


Between Dreams and Reality

by helooksbritish



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Death (Kinda), M/M, Parallel Universes, Time Travel, supernatural!stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-12 20:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 27,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1199331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helooksbritish/pseuds/helooksbritish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles wakes up and everything is different... The whole timeline has changed (or has it?)</p><p>*** I can't believe it is over****</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles opened his eyes, but this wasn’t his bed, this wasn’t his room.  He tried to take in his surroundings; he didn’t know where he was, or why he was sleeping in a strange bed.  The room was silent, dark, and it smelled strongly of disinfectant.  Stiles realized he was in the hospital.  How was he in the hospital?  Why was he in the hospital?

Stiles thought he was alone in the hospital room until he heard a yawn from somewhere beside him.  He tried to sit up and look who it was but he couldn’t move.  Stiles started to panic, why couldn’t he move.  The sudden intake of breath alerted the person next to him that something was different.

Scott quickly appeared in Stiles sightline.  He looked different; his hair was longer than he remembered it being.  “Stiles, Stiles, hey, welcome back!”  Scott was smiling.

Stiles was relieved to see Scott, if Scott was there, in the hospital with him, then the Nogitsune did not kill him. 

The doctor and nurses came into the room a few minutes later.  After a lot of talking and checking, Stiles learned that he was experiencing muscle atrophy due to being in the hospital for so long.  Six months, Stiles had been in that hospital bed for the past six months. 

“Where’s my dad?”  Stiles questioned Scott suddenly.

“He’s on his way.  He went home to shower.”  Scott said calmly.

“So he’s fine?  And the Nogitsune is gone?  How is everyone else?”

“Yeah your dad is fine, everyone else who?”  Scott raised an eyebrow, “And what is a Nogit-whatever?”

Stiles stared at Scott.  “Lydia, Derek, Allison, Isaac, the twins, and Kira; you know, Everyone!”

“Who? Lydia, Lydia Martin?”  Scott questioned.  “I mean, I am sure she is fine, Stiles are you alright?”

“Scott,” Stiles sighed.  “Why do I feel like you are trying to hide things from me?  I can take it, I know what I did; did I hurt anyone?  Is anyone dead?”

“Are you talking about the car accident?  No one got hurt, I got a bit banged up, but it wasn’t that bad.  You are the only one… You hit your head on the steering wheel and you’ve been in a coma since.”

“What about the battle?  What about the Oni?  Scott, what happened?”

Sheriff Stilinski walked into the room; his eyes brimmed with tears when he saw Stiles sitting up in bed.  

“Hey dad,” Stiles smiled.

“Hey son,” The Sheriff ran over to his son’s bed and hugged him.

The Sheriff looked tired, like months of stress and worry weighing him down.  Stiles felt incredibly guilty for the stress he put on his father.  He wished he could go back to the time before his father knew about the whole supernatural world, back when Stiles could protect him from that world.

“Oh, Stiles, you scared me.  I thought I had lost you for good.”  His dad looked close to tears again.

“Dad, I am so sorry.  I am sorry about this,” he motioned to the hospital bed.  “I am sorry for the nogitsune, and I am sorry for getting you involved in this, in this supernatural world.”

The Sheriff gave his son a quizzical look.  “Excuse me?”

“I mean it, I know Scott is my best friend, but if I had just did as you told me, not gone out and looked for the body in the wood.  Peter wouldn’t have bit Scott, we never would have met Derek, the whole werewolf world would still be a secret to us, and none of this would have happened.”  Stiles couldn’t look up at his dad.  He just felt too guilty.

“Maybe I should get the doctor,” Scott stood up.

“What? Why?” Stiles questioned him.

“Werewolves aren’t real.”  Scott said sadly.

“Why are you talking like that?  I am the one who figured it out before you,” Stiles was getting upset.  “Why are you trying to hide things from me?”

“I think it is best if the doctor comes in now.”  The Sheriff said calmly.

Scott got up and walked out of the room.

Stiles just watched them.  What was going on?

The Sheriff held his son’s hand, “What are you talking about?  Werewolves?  And who’s Derek?”

“Derek, Derek Hale?  Former Alpha, grumpy Beta, dark hair, bruty eyebrows, giant sour wolf.  He lives in a loft in the warehouse district, which come to think about it is kind of funny, werewolf in the warehouse district. ” Stiles smiled to himself.

The Sheriff thought for a few minutes, “The only Derek Hale I can think of, his family died in a fire about 10 years ago.  But he and his sister moved away after that and have never returned.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow, “Yeah him, but he’s back, has been for like two years.  You are the one who arrested him for Laura’s murder back in like my sophomore year.  Why do I feel like you have no idea what I am talking about?”

“Stiles, you haven’t started your sophomore year yet.”  His dad just watched Stiles.

“What?”

Just then the doctors entered the room followed by Scott.

After what seemed like hours of doctor talk, with poking and penlights in the eyes, the doctors decided to run an MRI.  The doctors gave Stiles a sedative because the testing was going to take several hours and they didn’t want him moving around.

Stiles laid back, quickly hit with the inability to stay awake.

~\\*/~

When Stiles woke up he was in a different hospital room.  Next to him, asleep in the chair was Derek Hale.

“Derek?”  Stiles questioned.

Derek sat up quickly in the chair.  “Hey, welcome back.”  Derek seemed genuinely happy that Stiles was awake, but on guard as though he was ready for someone to attack at any moment.

“I don’t understand.  The last time I woke up, before the MRI and the tests, my Dad and Scott didn’t know who you were, or anything about werewolves.  And now I wake up and you are sitting here with me.”

“Stiles this is the first time you’ve woke up.  You’ve been in a coma for about a week now.  When the Nogitsune left you… we weren’t sure you were going to wake up again.”

“Where’s Scott?  We were talking earlier, before the MRI…”

“Scott hasn’t been here.” Derek looked sad.

“What?”

“Scott hasn’t been here.  He has been at county with his Mom.  She got hurt, Stiles.”

“No, no, no, not Melissa, no.  He was here.  He sat over there and he, he said that none of this, that none of this was real.”  Stiles started to have a panic attack.

Derek just held onto Stiles and tried to calm him.  The nurses came into the room.

The doctors checked Stiles over, and gave him something for the attack.  After what seemed like an eternity of doctor jargon, Derek and Stiles were once again alone in the room. 

“Where’s my dad?” Stiles asked calmly.

“He’s on his way.  He was working tonight, but I called him when the doctors came into the room.”

Stiles sat there silently, and then questioned Derek, “What happened to Melissa?”

“Stiles, we aren’t talking about that right now.”

“Derek, what happened to her?”

“Stiles, don’t do this,” Derek pleaded.

“Did I hurt her?”  Stiles played with the seam in the blanket on the bed and couldn’t look up.  He would never be able to forgive himself if he is the reason that Melissa got hurt.  Stiles knew that the only reason he wasn’t having another panic attack was the medicine the doctors had given him. 

“It wasn’t you.  The Nogitsune was controlling you.  No one blames you, and you cannot blame yourself.”

Stiles had never heard Derek talk so calmly or with as much concern.  “Is she going to be okay?”

Derek was silent for a beat.  “We don’t know yet.”

Stiles collapsed back into the bed.  Between the tears and the exhaustion, Stiles’ eyes became heavy and soon he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update as fast as I can... I have most of the story mapped out, but it is just a matter of finding the time to write... Thanks for reading, I hope you like it!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

“… There are clear signs of something.  With family history, I am going to lean towards Frontotemporal Dementia.  We still have many tests that we are going to run.  For now, we can just hope for the best.  If it is FTD we are catching it early, and with therapies we can possibly slow the progression.  Some people live with FTD with minimal assistance for 10 years or so, we just have to remain hopeful.”  Stiles listened to the doctors talking with his dad just outside of his room.

Frontotemporal Dementia, a neurodegenerative disorder which killed his mom.  Stiles knew the progression, he knew the symptoms.  He knew there was nothing that could be done.  FTD was going to kill him, in two years, in ten years, it didn’t matter; it was going to take him, just like it took his mom.  This was going to destroy his dad.

The Sheriff walked into the room and sat down silently in the chair next to the bed.  Stiles did not have his eyes open, so his Dad didn’t know that he was awake again.  Stiles listened as his dad took in a shaky breath.  Stiles wasn’t ready to face his dad.  He couldn’t hold himself together enough, right now, to smile and brush it off; to be strong for his Dad so that the Sheriff would be able to stop crying and smile again.

“Oh Stiles,” The Sheriff sighed.  “I can’t lose you too.”  Stiles felt his dad reaching out for his hand and gripping it tightly.  “I wish we lived in your world of werewolves and the supernatural,” there was a light chuckle, “maybe they could fix this.”

With a ragged intake of breath the Sheriff sat up in the chair and composed himself.  He was going to be strong for his son, and he was not going to tell his son; at least not until they had definitive proof of the diagnosis.  The Sheriff was going to protect his son as long as he could.

After a few minutes the Sheriff sat back in his chair with is feet propped up on the radiator and turned on the TV.  There had to be something mindless on that he could lose himself in while he waited on Stiles to wake up.

Stiles opened his eyes finally after the basketball game started.  “Dad,” he said softly.

Quickly his Dad moved to his side, “Hey Stiles.  How are you feeling?”

Stiles smiled, which was a feat in and of itself, and said he was doing great.

The smile that crossed the Sheriff’s face was worth it to Stiles.  He could maintain the lie of naivety so as long as his Dad would be able to smile like that.

Stiles sat with his Dad in relative silence why the game played.  Neither was really watching, but it made for a good distraction.

Stiles jumped when his Dad’s phone started ringing. 

“Sorry Son, I have to take this.  It’s the station.”

Stile nodded and watched his Dad walk out of the room.  He watched his dad through the glass in the door.  He had a habit of pacing when he talked on the phone.  He always did it, and for some reason it has always amused Stiles.  Suddenly the Sheriff stopped his pacing and looked up, staring right at Stiles.  Stiles wished he was a better lip reader, but he could see his dad was tense when he hung up the phone and walked back into the room.

“Stiles, son, I’m sorry, but I have to go.  They found a body in the preserve, well they found half of a body, and I have to go.  I am so sorry.”

“Dad, you cannot go!”  Stiles started to panic, “You can’t, no, not tonight.  It’s a full moon tonight isn’t it; go tomorrow, during the day.”

“Stiles,” His dad sighed.  “I will call Scott and he can come up here with you until I get back.”

“No, no Scott needs to stay home tonight.  If we avoid him getting the bite tonight, we can avoid the problems later.  Trust me Dad, Laura Hale’s body will be there tomorrow, in fact tomorrow she will be buried on the Hale property, so you won’t even have to look for her.”

“Laura Hale?”

“You are looking for the top half of a woman, in her twenties, aren’t you?”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Trust me, you can’t go.”  Stiles begged.

“I’m sorry, I am the Sheriff; I have to.”  The Sheriff leaned down and kissed the top of Stiles’ head.  “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”  As the Sheriff walked out of the room he could hear him on the phone, “Hey Scott?  Yeah, everything’s fine.  I just got called down to the station… Yes, I would be grateful!  Thank you!”

“Damn it!”  Stiles breathed.  Stiles quickly reached for the hospital phone and dialed Scott’s number.

“Hello?”  Scott answered.

“Scott, you cannot come up to the hospital.”

“Stiles?  You dad just called me.”

“Scott, it’s a full moon tonight, you cannot come up here.”

“What?”

“My dad got called out to the preserve about a body, well half a body, you cannot come here, stay home.”  Stiles didn’t know how to convince people that he knew what was going to happen tonight, that he has already lived through all of this.

“A body?  That’s awesome, yeah you’re right.  If I find it, I will make sure I get a picture for you!” 

“No, no, no, no, you cannot go out to the preserve.” Stiles yelled into the phone.

“Hey man, it’ll be fine.  I will let you know what I find.” The phone line went dead.

“Scott? Scott?!  SCOTT!?!”  Stiles was yelling into the phone, but it was no use, Scott had hung up and was going to go into the preserve.  Peter was going to find him, and Peter was going to bite him.  Stile couldn’t save him from that world.  For the second time, it was completely Stile’s fault. “No, no, no, no, no!”

A nurse heard the commotion in Stiles’ room and ran in.  By the time she was in there Stiles was in a full-fledged panic attack.

Expertly she pulled out a needle and slid it into this IV.

“What are you doing?”  Stiles began to panic more, “What are you giving me?”

“It is just something that will help you calm down and probably let you sleep for a while.”

“No, I cannot sleep, not yet, not now!”

But it was too late.  No matter how hard Stiles fought he was falling asleep and fast.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Stiles sat straight up in bed.  Within seconds The Sheriff was holding him, calming him down. 

“Stiles, Stiles, what is it?  You are alright, son, talk to me.”

Stiles was screaming, a night terror.  While he knew he was safe, it took Stiles a couple of minutes to calm down.

“Dad?  Dad,” he hugged his dad tightly, holding on for dear life.  “You’re safe.”

“Of course I am safe, kid.”

“Did you find her?  Did anyone get hurt?”  Stiles questioned.

“Find who?”  The Sheriff looked his son over.

“Laura Hale, the body in the woods.”

“Stiles, what are you talking about?”

Just then, Derek came running into the room.  “What happened?”  He questioned as he saw Stiles sitting up in the bed.  “I heard you screaming.”

“He’s fine, night terror, I thought I told you to go home and get some sleep.”  The Sheriff scolded in a very fatherly manner.

Derek couldn’t look away from Stiles until he had acknowledgement from Stiles that he was fine.

Stiles just stared at Derek.

“I’m going to go talk with the doctors,” The Sheriff said walking towards the door.  He put his hand on Derek’s shoulder as he past, “Stay with him while I step out okay?”

Derek just nodded and moved to the chair beside Stiles’ bed. 

Once the Sheriff was out of the room, “I don’t exactly know what is going on, but every time I wake up I am in like a different time line.”

Derek just raised an eyebrow at him.

“Like I was here with you, but before that I was with Scott, but it was before he got bit.  Just now I woke up here, but I was sitting with my dad when he got the call to look for Laura’s body.”

“And the panicking?” Derek questioned.

“I couldn’t get my dad to stay and Scott wouldn’t listen, he was going out to look for her too.  I couldn’t save him from Peter.  It was all my fault, again.  I honestly don’t know if it is real, or even if this is real.  This could all be a dream.  You could be a dream, a hallucination.”

“Stiles, this is real.  I am real; you are not sleeping right now.”

Stiles took in a shaky breath, “But I don’t know that.”

Derek didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to comfort him.  He just sat there apprehensively, and Stiles began crying quiet tears of anxiety.  Derek climbed into the bed next to Stiles and hugged him tight.  “We will get this figured out.” 

The Sheriff walked in a moment later.  He was unfazed by Derek holding his son.  The Sheriff and Derek had several talks about Stiles and where Derek fit into his life, during the extended stay in the hospital.  The Sheriff knew that Derek cared deeply for Stiles, and though the feelings were unrequited, Derek would do anything for Stiles.  The Sheriff believes that ultimately Derek, when you get past the rough, ex-fugitive (for which he has been exonerated) exterior, he is a great guy, and the Sheriff counts himself very lucky to have him watching out for his son.

“What did the doctor say?”  Stiles sat up, wiping his eyes dry.

“They would like to come in and do some test. They are worried about the night terrors.  I honestly don’t know how the supernatural elements are going to translate in their tests, but…”  The Sheriff sighed.  “Crazy world we live in, huh?”

Derek just smiled having moved out of the bed and back into the chair.  Stiles gave Derek a look that clearly said, ‘do not tell my dad what I just told you’.

While waiting for the doctors to come into the room, the conversation turned to standard small talk.  “Crazy weather we have had,”  “How are the Mets doing?”.   Finally Stiles asked the question that was weighing on his mind, “How is Mrs. McCall?”

Derek looked to the Sheriff who let out a heavy breath.  “There is still no change.  She has burns over most of the right side of her body from the electric fence.  We are just going to have to wait and see.”

“Couldn’t Scott, you know,” Stiles paused a moment and then said quietly, “give her the bite?”

“Isaac still hasn’t wakened up, and she has basically the same injuries.  The Nogitsune knew how to attack so that werewolf healing would not help.  Giving her the bite would not help.”  Derek said solemnly.

Stiles looked down.  He did this, he was the reason they were both hurt, and there was nothing anyone could do for them.

Derek reached out and put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder, “You cannot blame yourself.  You had no control over what it was doing.”

“But what if I just fought harder, what if I hadn’t followed Scott to Barrow.  What if I had done a million different things, we could have avoided all of this.  But because of my recklessness, Melissa is dying, Isaac is dying, and countless others are injured, in the hospital, or…”  The tears filled Stiles’ eyes, “I’ve killed people.”

“Oh Stiles,” The Sheriff moved to his son’s side, “You cannot blame yourself.  This was not your fault.  This was something that happened to you, you didn’t do it.”

The doctors came in, and Stiles realized for the first time that he is really tired of doctors and would like to get away from the hospital (at least in one of his realities).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update (had a crazy week, last week!)

**Chapter 4**

Stiles woke up.  The room was dark, but there was someone else in the room with him.  It was Scott; he was asleep in the chair with his feet propped up on the hospital bed.

“Did you get bit?”  Stiles reached out for Scott.

Scott jumped awake, and it took him a moment to take in his surroundings.  “What?”

“Did you get bit?  Did the wolf bite you?”  Stiles asked again.

“What wolf?  What are you talking about?”

“The wolf, when you were walking in the preserve, did you get bit by the wolf?”

“I think I read somewhere that wolves don’t even live around here.  I don’t think you have to worry about me ever getting bit by a wolf.”  Scott rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Were you having a nightmare or something?”

“Something,” Stiles sat back in the bed.  If Scott didn’t get bit, then maybe they had avoided the werewolf life this time.

“Hey man, everything is going to be alright.  I heard the doctors talking about you going home in the next few days.”  Scott tried to lighten the situation.

Stiles knew that there was so much going wrong inside his head that he should never be allowed out of the hospital, but part of him just wanted nothing more than to be at home.  He smiled at Scott, “Yeah?  That’ll be good.  What were you reading?”  Stiles pointed to the book on the floor next to Scott’s chair.

“White Fang, it’s about wolves.” Scott smiled

Stiles returned the smile.

_*_

A couple of hours went by before the Sheriff got back to the hospital.  Stiles could see just how worn his dad was, but when he saw Stiles sitting up in bed, it was like nothing else mattered to him.  Stiles knew it was hard on his dad, between losing his mom all those years ago, and now Stiles getting sick.  The man did not have an easy life.

“How are you feeling?”  The Sheriff asked.

Stiles put on a genuine smile.  He was happy to see his dad safe.  He hoped that since Scott had not been bit, maybe this life didn’t have supernatural beings.  Maybe the whole werewolf world was nothing more than fantasy.

Scott smiled at the Sheriff and got up out of the chair near the hospital bed.  Both Scott and the Sheriff were secretly surprised that Stiles had not fought anyone about staying in the bed.  He was still hooked up to a few monitors, but that has never stopped him in the past.

“Stiles, I have to go, but I will see you tonight.  I need to run home and get my stuff, first day of school and all.” Scott talked towards the door; he nodded towards the Sheriff as he passed.

“Oh Scott, I am sorry.  I forgot about school starting tomorrow.  I shouldn’t have asked you to come up here all night.”  The Sheriff put his hand on his head.  He couldn’t believe he had forgotten something so important.  Scott didn’t need to spend his night up at the hospital when he had school to worry about the next day.  It has been a long summer and the Sheriff couldn’t believe it was over.

“It was no problem.  I like sitting up here, besides I get to see my mom this way. She worked the night shift last night and doesn’t get off work until after school starts, so I am going to go see her before I leave. Have a great day, sir.”  Scott smiled at the Sheriff, “Stiles, I will see you after Lacrosse practice.”

“Have a good day Scott.”  The Sheriff smiled.

Stiles watched as his dad walked over and sat in the chair Scott had been in a few minutes ago.  Stiles could sense something different with his dad he was winching in pain when he moved in his chair.  
  
"Dad, what's wrong?" Stiles questioned knowing the answer.  
  
"Oh it's nothing.  Last night I got bit by something when we were out on the preserve.  It's not too bad." The sheriff pulled up the side of his shirt and showed Stiles the spout covered in a bandage.  "It already looks a ton better than it did last night."  
  
"Almost like it was healing too quickly?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so.  Last night it hurt and bled, but now only hurts when I move wrong." Sheriff Stilinski pulled his shirt up again and pulled at the bandage.  Underneath the skin was slightly scared as though the injury occurred weeks ago.  "Well that's odd.  I don't know what the put on this but it is practically healed."  
  
"What bit you?"  Stiles asked his dad, knowing the answer.  
  
"I didn't see, but the doctor thought probably a dog based on the mark."  
  
"No," Stiles leaned back in the bed with his hands on his face.  This had to be the dream, had to be. He looked at his hands and started to count; one, two, three, four...  How was he going to prove it to his dad? Five, six, seven... This couldn't be real.  Eight, nine, ten... That was it. Ten fingers this was real. Was the other life real also? Or does he have some kind of psychic ability? "No." Stiles moaned again.  
  
"Stiles, what is wrong?"  
  
"It was a werewolf." He mumbled knowing his dad was not going to believe him.  
  
"Stiles," the Sheriff looked sad.

“I know, I know, but talk with Dr. Deaton.  He will know.”

“The vet?” His father questioned.

Stiles sighed.  “I know that mentally I don’t have everything going on right now, but can you please just trust me.  Talk with Deaton, or you could talk with Derek.”

“Derek?  Derek Hale?  How did you know he was back in town?”  His dad put on his Sheriff face and glared at Stiles, and had Stiles not have been on the receiving end of that look his whole life, it might have worked.

How was Stiles going to explain to his dad that he knows things about the future without sounding stupid or crazy?  “Will you just trust me?”

“Yeah, alright son.  I will go before my shift starts tonight.”

“Yeah, tell Deaton you got bit by something and show him the mark.  That is if you still have one.”

The Sheriff had to admit his side was healing faster than he believed it possible. 

Stiles watched his dad, he looked tired.  The Sheriff reached for the remote, propped his feet onto the end of the bed and flipped through the TV stations looking for something mindless to watch.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After Stiles fell asleep Sheriff Stilinski went to talk with Deaton as he promised.  Walking into the vet’s office; Alan greeted him fondly.

“What can I do for you this evening, Sheriff?”  The Doctor smiled.

“I promised my son I would come talk with you.  I got bit last night when we were looking for the body in the preserve.”

“Bit?”  The doctor’s head shot up in concern.  “Bit by what?”

“I don’t know I didn’t see it, but the ER nurse thought it looked like a dog bite.”  The Sheriff was watching the doctor closely.  He noticed the changes in behavior and was making note of it all.

“May I see it?”  Deaton questioned.

The Sheriff pulled up the side of his shirt.  The bandage looked bloody and showed the size of the bite.  As the Sheriff pulled the bandage off, he looked up at Deaton confused.  “It’s healed.  How is it healed?  It was bleeding and deep, it couldn’t have healed so quickly.”

“And your son sent you to me?” Deaton examined the wound area. 

_“_ Yeah, he’s sick.  He has been hallucinating, and when I told him about being bit it made him really anxious.  He said I had to promise to come talk with you or talk with Derek Hale.  So I am here and I don’t really know why.  I guess I just couldn’t break that promise; he seemed so adamant about it.”  The Sheriff continued to watched the doctor’s reaction.

Deaton tightened his expression, “He’s right.  I do know about this, but the question is how does he know that I know?  Is he friends with Derek Hale?”

“No, I don’t even know if they have ever even met.”  Why is Derek Hale so important to all of this?  The Sheriff couldn’t get that question out of his head.  “What is it, Doc?”

“Have you ever heard of Lycanthropy?”  Deaton asked seriously.

“Lycanthropy, werewolves? Seriously?!”  The Sheriff was getting annoyed.

“Seriously. Being bit by an Alpha will infect the victim.  I knew there was an Alpha in the area, and when the Hales came back I knew it was serious.  Their family has protected this area for generations, up to the fire that is.  Laura and Derek were the only ones spared from the fire and they left afterwards.”

“Are you telling me that the Hales were werewolves and what, now I am one also?” The Sheriff asked skeptically.

“Basically, yes.”  There was no sign of a practical joke on the doctor’s face. 

“Come on Doc, seriously.”

Deaton smiled.  “Seriously, let me show you something.”  Deaton opened the cabinet and pulled out a jar, it was filled with a black powder.  Then he dropped the jar at his feet.  The Sheriff frowned as he watched it fall.  When it broke oddly enough the powder landed in a circle around Deaton’s feet.  “Touch me.”

The Sheriff was still shocked at how the powder could make a perfect circle when he just dropped the jar.  “What?”

“Reach out and touch me.”

The Sheriff reached out but it was like there was a wall between him and the doctor. He could not reach him.   As he pushed against the wall his hand began to grow long animal like claws. “What is that?”

“That is Mountain Ash.  It has magical components that do not let supernatural being cross it.  Look at it as a shield for humans.  And those, those are your claws, that is not the only transformation you are capable of; claws, fur, teeth, and your eyes.  You will notice that you senses will be heightened, and you will be faster and stronger than ever before.  You will be able to heal from injuries that no human would survive.”

The Sheriff had to sit down.  This was too much.

~\\*/~

Stiles opened his eyes. The room was dark, and there was no one in the room with him for once.  Seeing who was with him helped Stiles know which reality he was in.  The hospital rooms were very similar and were not helping him figure things out.  With a sigh he ran his hands through his hair and leaned back against the pillows.  His hair was longer than it had been.  This had to be the reality with the nogitsune.  He had a buzz cut in the other reality.  Since waking up in either reality he hasn’t spent much time alone. 

Stiles gets out of the bed and begins to walk to the door.  He is attached to an IV, and he remembers to pull it along with him as he goes.  The halls were empty for the most part.  It was late and this part of the hospital calmed during the night.  Stiles knew that if he walked down to the ER he would find plenty of people, but he also knew he wouldn’t make it that far.  Just walking a few rooms away he was starting to get tired.  At the end of the hall there was a room that was lit by the light of the vending machine.  Stiles made it his goal to make it down to that room.  He could see chairs in the room and knew he could sit and rest once he got there.  The walk was not that long, but Stiles feared he wouldn’t make it.  Once he got to the room he sat down in the chair just inside the dark room, he was exhausted. 

“Stiles,” Stiles heard his name called out in the hallway a few minutes later.  “Stiles!?"  The voice got louder. "Where’s Stiles?”

It was Derek and he sounded panicked.

“I’m here,” he said, knowing he would not need to raise his voice for the werewolf to hear him.

Derek came running down to the vending machine room. “What are you doing here?”

“I was bored.  I couldn’t make it any farther.”

“You are lucky that I am the one who walked in to see an empty room and not your dad.  You do remember that Sleep Walking Stiles is how this all started right?”  His expression was soft as he leaned against the door frame.  He could see how tired Stiles was after his short trip.

Stiles hadn’t thought how the others would react when they saw his empty room.  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“Let’s get you back in bed.”  Derek nodded back towards the room.

Stiles thought about it for a moment, “You are going to have to let me sit for a few more minutes.  I didn’t realize how much that was going to take out of me.”

Derek smiled then picked Stiles up, bridal style, dragging the IV behind him, and carried him back to the bed.  Stiles was a bit embarrassed being carried like a damsel in distress, but he didn’t have the energy to put up much of a fight.

Once he was comfortable back in the bed, Derek sitting next to him, Stiles questioned, “How is everyone?”

“No real changes.  Isaac started healing, a bit faster than a human, but not much of a change there.  The same with Scott’s mom, there has not been much progress.  The twins have been staying in my loft and thankfully for once they are staying out of trouble.  Lydia is learning more about her abilities; honestly I have never seen a Banshee before so I don’t know how to help her.  Chris has contacts with some hunters who have come across Banshees before, but mainly he just learned how to kill her if she goes rogue. I mean it is good to know, but I don’t think we have to worry about her.”  Derek had his arms crossed across his chest.  Stiles knew this defense stance of Derek’s.  He knew that Derek was hiding something, but Stiles also knew that no matter how hard he tried he would get anything out of Derek he did not want to say.  “So, tell me what is happening in that other world of yours?  Did Scott get bit?”

Stiles could get used to comfortable conversations with Derek, “No, actually.  My dad did.  I sent him to talk with Deaton.  He promised he would go once I fell asleep.”

“How are you going to explain to him how you knew about werewolves and Deaton?  I mean that is if Deaton is an emissary in that world also.”

“In case you didn’t know already, I’m crazy, so I can just play the crazy card.  He doesn’t need to know there, just as he doesn’t need to know here, that I am stuck between two realities.  Or that I don’t know which of the realities is real.  I mean that is assuming that one of them is the real world.   What if I am completely gone, crazy, dying, and this is just what is left of my brain before I actually kick it?”

Derek was uncomfortable with Stiles glib statements about his mortality and how real an early death is for the frail human.

Sensing Derek’s discomfort, Stiles asked him the question he knew he had to, “If something happens to me…”

“Stiles…”  Derek interrupted.

“No, listen to me. If something happens to me, which  is a very real possibility at the moment; promise me you will watch out for my dad.  He doesn’t have anyone anymore, besides me.  And will you tell Scott that I am sorry?”

“Stiles,” Derek reached out to Stiles.

“Just promise me, promise me you will do that.”

Derek was at a loss for words.  He nodded his head in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

“How do you know me?” 

There is a voice in the dark room.  Stiles hasn’t even opened his eyes, but he knows who that voice belongs to, it’s Derek.  He sounds icy and distant, not like the comforting Derek of his other reality.  He sounds just like he did the day that he and Scott first met him in the preserve.

“Derek,” Stiles said as he opened his eyes.  He was standing in the corner of the room.  He looked ghostly pale, as though he has not seen the sun in years.

Derek was glaring at Stiles.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.  In fact, you told me that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”  Stiles knew that this was a dangerous game to be playing, but he couldn’t help messing with him a little.

“Excuse me?”  Derek growled.

Stiles smiled.  “You told me to say _Annabel Lee_.  You said it was your favorite poem when you were in school and that you never told anyone about it.  And now that I have said it, I am only hoping that in this life it was your favorite here, too.”

“ _Annabel Lee_ is a code.” Derek’s face was unchanging, “What do you mean ‘in this life’?”

“That’s the thing; I am kind of stuck between realities. You in my other life, is a friend, we are close.  That is how I know you, but not really you, I know another version of you.  And I don’t know if this is real, if that is real, if both are real, if either are real…” Stiles started to ramble.  “What is it code for?” He changed subjects.

“How close are we?”  Derek asked.

“We, you and me here? Or We, you and me in the other life?  I mean because here, we aren’t close at all, I am kind of assuming you hate me, and you don’t know me.  But there, there we are friends, pack, kind of,” Stiles watched Derek as he raised an eyebrow.  “I mean, I am not a werewolf, but my friend Scott is your Alpha or maybe you aren’t joining his pack and are just close to him, and doing the whole Lone Wolf life, but we work together a lot to fight the evil that is drawn to Beacon Hills.”

Derek wasn’t sure he followed any of that, so he waited for Stiles to continue.

He didn’t.

“Are you sick?”  He questioned Stiles.

“Here, yes, well, kind of.  There, no, well maybe, but mainly it was evil trickster demon spirit possession.  Have you heard of a Nogitsune?”

Derek’s eyebrows rose impossibly high.  “You’re a Nogitsune?”

“What? No, but there I was possessed by one, and that is why I don’t know if this is real, or that to be honest.  I mean I assume they found a way to get rid of it, since they told me they did, but what if all of this is just more of the Nogitsune’s tricks.

“You never told me what _Annabel Lee_ was code for.”

Derek glared.  “And I am not going to.  I don’t know you, and I definitely don’t trust you.”  Derek began to head for the door.

“Hey, wait.”

“And if I find out that you tell anyone else that I am a werewolf, I will rip your throat out with my teeth.”

“Oh like I haven’t heard that before.”  Stile kind of forgot that this was not his Derek that he was talking with; this Derek did not have their history or familiar relationship that protected Stiles (especially when Stiles’ sarcasm was involved).

Derek’s eyes flashed blue and his fangs were appearing as he growled.

“Alright, but there is something you should know.  The Alpha, it’s your uncle Peter.  He is the one who killed your sister and he bit my dad.”

“That’s not possible.”

“It is, I know about the house fire and that he has been catatonic for like, what ten years, but he is healing.  It’s him.  And if you don’t believe me, which why would you, except that I have lived all of this already, just be careful.”

“Whoever the Alpha is, don’t let your dad join his pack.”  Derek warned.

“Trust me, I won’t let that happen.”

Derek left without another word.

“Who was that?”  Scott questioned when he walked into the room again.

“You don’t want to know.”  Stiles told him.  “How was your first day?  Did you meet Allison?”

“Yeah,” Scott had a dorky dreamy expression on his face.  “Hey, wait how do you know about Allison?”

Stiles just smiled.  He shouldn’t get enjoyment out of this, but if you don’t laugh at the world then it is just pain.

_*_

“Well?”  Deaton questioned Derek.

“Nothing, he is just a kid, nothing special.”  Derek said honestly.

Deaton nodded, “Do you believe him?”

“He knows more than is possible.  He knows things I would never had said to anyone.  It is not a psychic thing.  I think he may have connections between two parallel realities. He says he has lived all of this before.”

“That’s not possible.”  Deaton said flatly.

“I know.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Docs are going to let you go tomorrow.”

Stiles sleepily opened his eyes and stretched.  Derek was sitting next to him.  “Why is it every time I am awake you are here.  Why don’t I ever sleep through your visits and not my dad’s?”  Stiles joked.

“Oh if that is how you feel I will go then.”  Derek said mockingly as he stood up.

“I met other you, today,” Stiles smiled at him.

“Oh yeah?  How did that go?”

“Other you hates me, but then again, you hated me when we first met.”

“You accused me of murder, twice.”  Derek was only teasing Stiles, but it was true after all.

Stiles got defensive, “Yeah well, I haven’t accused other you of murder, and he still hates me.”

“Probably because you are an obnoxious kid,” Derek always knew just what to say to get Stiles going.

“Oh shut up.  I have saved your ass countless times.”

“That doesn’t make you any less of an obnoxious kid.” Derek smiled.

“Whatever, you love me.”  Stiles crossed his arms and pouted.

Luckily for Derek, Stiles was looking away while he pouted.  At the mention of Derek’s love for Stiles the werewolf turned pink around the ears. 

“Hold on, did you say that the doctors are going to let me go home tomorrow?”  Stiles brightened up suddenly.

“Yeah, they were here earlier talking with your dad.  You aren’t allowed to be alone, but they think it would do you some good to get out of here.  However, I think if they knew about your timeline jumping, they would NEVER let you go home. They would probably have you committed.”

“Hey, other you said that _Annabel Lee_ was a code.  What is it code for?”

Derek raised one eye brow at Stiles, “Didn’t he tell you?”

“No he hates me, and he doesn’t know me. I mean honestly, how could he hate me if he _did_ know me.  But he avoided my questions.”

Derek just smiled.  This reaction didn’t surprise Derek.  “But he listened to you after you said it, didn’t he.”

Stiles thought for a moment, “Up till the moment when he threatened to rip my throat out with his teeth.  And he growled, actually growled, when I said I’ve heard it before.  He’s grumpier than you are.  But then again, you were rather grumpy when we met you.  I kind of miss the Sourwolf.  Now we just have surly brow and kicked puppy Derek.”  Stiles rambled.

Derek hid his smile.  Stiles and the pack had really changed him over the years.  They were a lot like the family he had lost, and gaining the new pack really helped him trust humanity again.

There was a beat of comfortable silence, which was weird for Stiles.

“Your dad should be back soon.”  Derek finally said.  Derek liked silence, he just wasn’t used to it when Stiles was around (at least not while Stiles was awake).

~\\*/~

Stiles stretched and opened his eyes.  The room was dark and he was alone.  As he lay in the bed he examined the light fixture over his bed.  There were dead bugs in it.  Not that bugs bothered Stiles, but for hospital hygiene this had to be had to be frowned upon.

Outside it was dark, the sky was clear and Stiles could see more stars then he has ever remembered seeing in the city.

“Well look at that,” There was a figure silhouetted in the door of his room.  “You finally decided to join the land of the living again.”  The voice was familiar, but Stiles couldn’t place it.  She moved to his bed.  “You gave me quite the scare.  I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”

It wasn’t until she was next to his bed, and he saw her face.

Claudia Stilinski was standing at his bedside.

Even though Stiles knew this had to be a dream, he could not help the sudden rush of overwhelming emotions.  “Mom?”  He reached out to her with tears pouring from his eyes.  He couldn’t believe he was getting a moment with her as though she was alive.

“Hey kiddo, what’s wrong?”  Claudia hugged her son tight to her chest and running a comforting hand down his back.  “Stiles, shhh, it’s alright.  You are going to just fine, I’m here.  Nothing is going to happen to you.”

Stiles looked at her face, he beautiful face.  A face he has not seen, outside of photos, in a very long time.  “Mom,” he said again, “I love you.”

She smiled, “Oh, Stiles, I…”

\\*/

Stiles sat up in bed, the force of his sudden waking scared his dad awake.

“Stiles, hey, are you okay?”

There were tears in Stiles’ eyes.  He ran his hands across his head, his buzz cut hair.  He wanted that other reality to be real.  “Just a dream.”

“A nightmare?”  The Sheriff questioned timidly.

“No, I dreamed about mom.  But it was so real.”

The Sheriff smiled sadly. 

“I miss her.”

“Yeah, I miss her too.”  The Sheriff hugged his son tightly.

~*~

“Stiles, Stiles wake up.”  Derek was leaning over the bed holding Stiles in his arms.

What the hell was going on?  Stiles opened his eyes and it took him a moment for his brain to catch up with him.  “What happened?”

“We were talking, I said that your dad was going to be here soon, and then it was like you fainted.  You fell back onto the bed; you were unconscious, but not completely.”

“Don’t tell the doctors; don’t let them keep me here longer.”  Stiles begged holding onto Derek to ground him in this reality.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I was here, but then I was with my mom, and then just as fast I was in that other reality.  I don’t know if my mom was a dream or another world.  What is happening to me?”  Stiles was not letting go of Derek.

“Bout time!”  The Sheriff smiled as he walked in to see his son and Derek holding each other.

Derek gave him a look that clearly said that was not the correct response then said, “Nightmare.”


	8. Chapter 8

The Sheriff looked worried.  “Like a night terror?”

“No, I don’t, no… It was different,” Stiles didn’t want to explain.

“I think I should talk with the doctors to be safe.”  The Sheriff started for the door again.

“Dad, no.  They said I could go home.  I don’t want to mess that up.  I cannot be here anymore.”

“Stiles, your health is more important than boredom.  And we don’t know if this is just normal or nothing to worry about.  I am going to talk to the doctor.”  The Sheriff walked out of the room.

“I can’t stay here,” Stiles began to get worked up again.  He wasn’t just experiencing cabin fever; he needed to get home, to his computer, to the internet.  He had a lot of research to do.  He needed to see his friends again.  He couldn’t breathe.

“Stiles, you are going to have a panic attack.  Focus, Focus on me.”  Derek tried to talk him down.  “You dad just has to do what he thinks is right.  He just wants to keep you safe.”  Derek was holding Stiles again.  The physical contact seemed to calm Stiles a bit.  “What can I do to help?”  Derek asked.

“This,” Stiles motioned to the contact.  “Keep me grounded.”

Derek held him tight.  Then he crawled into the bed next to Stiles to hold him more completely/comfortably.

Derek was lying in the bed with Stiles.  He had his arm around Stiles and pulled him to his chest. 

“What was the code behind _Annabel Lee_?”  Stiles changed the subject breathing softly again.  He felt he could hold himself together better with Derek near. 

Derek smiled to himself.  “Have you read the poem?”

“No,” Stiles answered trying to stay focused on calmly breathing.

“The speaker is writing about a girl that he loves, actually he is writing about his cousin, but he loves her and says that there is no other thought than to love and be loved by one another.  But people get jealous of their love and they take her away from him, and she gets sick.  He says that their love was strong and nothing on earth, in heaven or hell would keep them apart.”

Stiles smiled, “Derek Hale, are you saying you told me to tell other you that you loved me?”

Derek smiled.  “No, I was letting him know that you were a sick kid, who told people I was your cousin.”

Stiles elbowed him in the side.  “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“What that I didn’t like being called your cousin?  I thought hitting your head on the steering wheel was good enough.”  Derek couldn’t help but smile.

Stiles elbowed him again.  “And my dad knew you liked me?”

“We had a lot of time to just sit and talk.”  Derek admitted

“That explains his comment earlier.”

Sheriff Stilinski walked in a few minutes later, “The doctor will be in here in a bit.”

Derek went pink again under the heavy gaze of the Sheriff.  Derek and the Sheriff had become close, almost friends even, but this, this was awkward.  Derek was in bed with his underage son.  And while everything was clearly innocent it was still uncomfortable.

“So, is this a thing now?  Or is this still because of the nightmare?”  The Sheriff put his hands on his hips.

“Um dad, turns out there is a conversation I would like to have with you.”  Stiles smiled.

“You’re gay, I picked up on that.”

“Last time I tried to tell you, you thought I was lying.” Stiles argued.

“Yeah, well I started to pay attention.  And that night, you _were_ lying to me.  You were there because of the kanima.”  The Sheriff raised his eyebrows just waiting for his son to argue with him again.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Stiles relented.

Derek started to climb back out of the bed, “Don’t you dare.”  Stiles said holding on tighter.

The Sheriff just smiled, “I am fine with this,” he said by way of blessing.  “But I will say right now, my son is still a minor and I am the Sheriff, and I don’t think I need to clarify that any farther.”  He gave them both his signature glare.  “And Derek, if you hurt him, I’ll kill you!”

Derek swallowed hard.  Derek was a werewolf and could easily take down the Sheriff, but whole heartedly he felt threatened.  There was nothing the Sheriff wouldn’t do for his son.

The conversation from there turn passive, small talk; weather, sports, local news/gossip as they waited for the doctor to show up.

\\*/

“Whoa, Stiles,” His dad was holding him.  “Hey buddy, open your eyes.”

“What? What’s going on?” Stiles opened his eyes.

“You passed out.”  The Sheriff was examining his son as he held him.

“How long have I been out?”  Stiles questioned.

“About a minute; I’m going to get the doctor.”  The Sheriff stood up.

“What is it with you and the doctors?  Dad, don’t.  I know what is happening.  Well not everything, but that is why I have to get out of here.  I need my computer.”

The Sheriff waited for Stiles’ rambling to come around again and make sense.

“This isn’t a medical thing, it is supernatural.  I know that much, but… wait did you say about a minute?”

“Yeah, you weren’t out long, why?”

“It was most of the day,” Stiles was mumbling to himself.  “I mean clearly time is a factor, since I am here and everything, but that is, that is interesting.  It is like a dream, but… It is like my left brain is off and time doesn’t matter anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your left brain, it is the part of the brain that keeps track of time, I mean time isn’t real.  It was invented by humans and you brain can learn follow it.  When you are dreaming, time doesn’t matter.  You could dream for hours and wake up five minutes later.  Your left brain shuts off when you are sleeping.  This is different, but not completely different.” Stiles went back to his unfiltered rambling, “This is right brained; how can something just affect the right brain?”

“Stiles, there is something I haven’t told you yet, about your test results.”  There were tears forming in the Sheriff’s eyes.

“Dad, I know what the doctors found.  It’s not that, this isn’t, you have to believe me.”  Stiles knew he had to tell his dad everything, and pray that he would believe him.  “Dad, I don’t know what is causing this, but somehow I am able to jump timelines.  When I fall asleep I wake up in a different life.  It is how I knew about werewolves, and Derek, and Deaton.  I know seems like fantasy, but…”  Stiles groaned.  “I don’t know how to make you understand.”

“Stiles, I’m a werewolf.  There are a lot of things I don’t understand, but what I do know is that nothing is impossible.  Just try and explain it.”

“You have adapted to being a werewolf really well.” Stiles tried to smile honestly.  After a moment to gather his thoughts, Stiles told his dad about being in the hospital, about the Nogitsune, about what has happened in the past (which is the future), he tried his best.  The Sheriff just sat and listened to his son, taking in everything he was telling him.

“And you are sure that other world is not a dream?”  The Sheriff finally asked.

“How else would I know about the werewolves?”

“I don’t know, maybe you are some kind of psychic.”

Stiles smiled, “I don’t know, but I am something.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I am going to let you go home, but at no point should you be left alone, even for a few minutes.  I want someone with you at all times, at least for a few weeks.”  The doctor said sternly looking at both the Sheriff and Derek as well.  “I would like to schedule a few more visits with your regular doctor, but I think you will benefit from being out of here.”

“I get to go home?”  Stiles was beaming.  These were the words he had been waiting for, for too long.

The Sheriff just smiled at his son.

“Here are the discharge papers, and the nurse will be in soon.”  The doctor handed papers to the Sheriff and left the room.

~

Once home Stiles was ready to set up camp in his room, computer, text, notes, the whole nine yards.  He has so much research he wanted to get done, and could not wait to get started.  Derek had picked up the books his family had on mythical creatures, as well as Peter’s computer.  When he got to the house, he and Stiles went up to Stiles’ room to research.

A few hours later the Sheriff stood at the door to the bedroom, slightly fearful of what he was about to walk in on.  He opened the door and looked around to find Stiles at the computer, and Derek on the bed with a book.  The Sheriff let out a sigh of relief.  “I’m going to the store, we don’t have anything here.  Are you both good?”  He asked.

“Yeah, fine.” Stiles waved from the computer.

Derek gave a slight nod not looking away from his book.

“Alright, I’ll be back then.” The Sheriff turned and walked back out the door.  “Oh and by the way.” He remembered, “If you both are in here, this door will stay open, got it?”

Derek smiled.  Stiles turned red.  “Seriously dad?”

“Seriously son!”

“You won’t let us close the door, but you are going to leave us alone while you go to the store?”  Stiles never really knew when to keep his mouth closed.

“You got wore out just walking upstairs.  I doubt you will have the energy for sex anytime soon.”  Sheriff Stilinski winked at his son and then left again.

“Can you believe him?”  Stiles said indignantly.

“He’s your dad, be thankful you have a dad who cares so much.”  Derek didn’t look up from his book.

Stiles went back to his reading.  “What about Time Lord?”

“No, not real.”

“Damn.  What about gnome?” He clicked a new site.

“You’re too tall.” Derek never looked away from his own book.

“Really, huh?!”

A few more minutes went by, “What about a Hallow Child?”

“One they are emotionless, which you are not, and two they don’t exist.”

“Why isn’t this easy?”  Stiles sighed.

Nearly an hour went by before Stiles started up again.  “What is a Sylph?”

Derek shut his book and looked at Stiles face.  “It has to be something else.”

“Whoa, what is it?”

Derek reopened his book and showed Stiles the page he had been on.  “It is an Air Spirit, my grandmother used to tell us stories about them.  They were people who had the ability to jump timelines, the could be here, and then like in a dream they were able see the future, or appear somewhere different in just a blink of an eye.”

“Well, that kind of sound exactly like what is happening, doesn’t it?”

“Stiles, if a Sylph doesn’t learn to control their jumps they will be permanently lost in the in between.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that if you are a Sylph, you have to pick a lifeline and stay, because if you keep going there, soon you will not be able to go anywhere, and you will be forever in between here and there.  You will no longer be a part of any timeline; you will be erased from history.”

“Well, how do I control it?”

“I don’t know.”

Stiles looked at Derek with shock and horror.  “Can we talk with Deaton?  Would he know?”

“Stiles, Deaton died.  He was trying to save you, and the Nogitsune killed him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was short... I will try harder next time :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Stiles woke up, sitting quickly up in the hospital bed.  He was alone and it was dark outside.  He knew what he had to do while he was here, but wasn’t sure how he was going to get to Deaton, since he was still in the hospital.

Then the nurse came in the check on him; she was young and looked like she only recently graduated. Not veteran enough to shut down Stiles’ antics before he got what he wanted.  Stiles pleaded with her, “I need to talk with Dr. Deaton.”

“Dr. Deaton?”  She questioned.

“Dr. Alan Deaton, could you look up his number for me?”  Stiles used every bit of his 16 year old charm.

“The Veterinarian?” She gave him a quizzical look.

“Yes!”

She was still confused but he wasn’t giving her any more information.  “I can look up the number for the clinic, but it is really early, and I am sure he has not opened yet.”

“But you will look up his number for me?”

 She smiled at him, “Sure.”

Five minutes later, Melissa McCall walked into the room with a slip of paper with a number written on it.  “Stiles, what are you planning?”

Stiles couldn’t help the tears that formed in his eyes when he saw Melissa.  She was like a mother to him in so many ways.  He loved her, and he was overwhelmed by the guilt from his other life and the pain he caused her.  For a moment he wished he could stay in this timeline and stay with these people who have no idea of what he had become.  He wants to have the chance to change everything so that the Nogitsune isn’t able to happen.

When she was close enough to him, Stiles pulled her in for a tight hug.  He began crying.

“Hey, Stiles, are you alright?” She asked holding him in a motherly embrace.

“It’s just… I guess that I’m happy to see you.”  Stiles wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands.

“Oh honey,” Melissa hugged Stiles again.  “I’ve come up a few times to see you, but you were sleeping.”

After Stiles was able to compose himself he changed the subject.  “May I have Deaton’s number?”

Melissa gave him a suspicious look, “Why?”  She held up the number but didn’t hand it over to Stiles.

“I just have questions for him, about things.”

“Questions, about things?”

Stiles was a really bad liar.

“What things?”  Melissa asked crossing her arms.

Stiles sighed, “You wouldn’t believe me.”

Melissa waited.

“I was reading something about FTD, and it said something about having a, eh, having a like service dog, who can like help with things.  I just thought that maybe, he would, you know, know where to get information about that.”  Stiles tried, and amazingly it came out plausible. 

Melissa had a sympathetic expression on her face.  “Oh, Stiles.”  She handed him the number.  “I have to go back to work, but if you need anything, you let me know.  Scott will be up here later.”

Stiles smiled at her, and hurt on the inside for lying to her. 

Stiles reached for the phone and dialed Deaton’s number.  He knew it was too early for the clinic to be open, but hoped that in this reality all calls were forwarded to his cellphone afterhours. 

The phone rang.  “Dr. Deaton.”  He answered.

“Eh, Dr. Deaton, you don’t know me, but um, my name is Stiles, uh, Stiles Stilinski, and…”

“The Sheriff’s son.  I wondered when I was going to hear from you.  Care to explain to me how you knew that I was an emissary?”

“That’s actually why I was calling you.  Derek and I think that maybe I am a Sylph.  Well, not the Derek you know, um, I am kind of from a different timeline or parallel universe, or I honestly don’t know.  This just isn’t my life, it is different.  And I was hoping you’d be able to help me.”

“A Sylph?” The doctor questioned.

“Know anything about them?”

“I’ll be up at the hospital soon.”  The line went dead.

~

“If what you are telling me is true, then you have no control over your jumps.  And while most of them are controlled, like now, when you are sleeping, they are starting to be random.  You are starting to lose control and soon…”  Deaton recounted all that Stiles had told him.

“Yeah, soon I will completely lose control and end up nowhere.  And to be honest, I don’t want that.”

“I have never heard of Sylph who could jump worlds, most can jump location, and some of the more advanced can jump time, but to move to a parallel universe, well it is unprecedented. Movement between worlds will start to tear the vale of reality.  Stiles, if you don’t gain control of your abilities, there is a chance you could cause both realities to fold in on one another.  Sylphs are dangerous enough when they are only low level spirits, but this power you are talking about; this could be catastrophic.” 

Talking with Deaton did not calm Stiles as he had hoped it would. 

“I am going to have to do some more research, but I may know how to help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so this one was short also... so I am sorry, but this is a busy week... hopefully I can get some longer chapters soon!


	11. Chapter 11

Stiles woke up, and across the room stood Derek.  “I’m never going to get tired of seeing you when I wake up.”  He said smiling.

Derek quickly turned around to face Stiles in the hospital bed.  “Excuse me?”

The coldness in Derek’s voice made Stiles realize where he was, “Never mind.  I am not where I thought I was.”  He sat up in the bed, “Is there something you wanted?”

Derek just glared at Stiles.  “Look, I know that in whatever reality you came from we are close, and whatever, but not here.  I don’t know you and you don’t know me.  You may know about my life, but you don’t know me, not here.”

“Look, I didn’t mean anything by…”  Stiles started in apologetically.

“Were you lying before, when you said that Peter is the Alpha?”

“No,” Stiles was serious and a bit sad, “Peter is the Alpha.  He is the one who killed Laura, and who bit my dad.  You have to be careful around him.”

Derek just nodded, “Tomorrow’s the full moon again; the Sheriff is the one who is going to need to be safe.”

“Will you help him?”

“Peter?”

“No, my dad.  He is new to this and won’t know how to control himself on the full moon.”

“Your dad is the Sheriff; you think he is going to listen to me?”

“He will because he doesn’t know what is going to happen.”  Stiles reassured.  “I told him everything that was going on.  He knows about the parallel world, about you and I tried to help him, but he’s going to need you.”  Stile thought for a moment, “and you are going to need him.”

Derek glared at Stiles, “Tell him to be at my house no later than 7 if he wants my help.”

Derek turned away from Stiles and walked out the door.

Now that he was alone, Stiles began thinking, when he went to sleep last he was here, in this timeline, why didn’t he jump? For the past month, every time he went to sleep he woke somewhere different.  Why didn’t it work this time?

Stiles knew that his dad would be in soon, but he needed to go talk to Derek about what he learned from Deaton.  He wrote a note for his dad and left it in the chair next to the bed.  Then he curled up pulling the blankets up over his shoulders.  This had to work, this time when he woke up; he had to be back with Derek, with his Derek. 

He lay there, tossed, and turned.  Nothing…

The one time he needed to sleep, he wasn’t able.  He tried so hard and nothing worked.

An hour went by and he heard the door to his room open and close quietly.

Stiles opened his eyes and saw he dad coming into the room. 

“Hey son,” The Sheriff smiled.

Stiles smiled back at his father.  “It’s the full moon tonight.”

“I know,” The Sheriff unconsciously looked at his hands as though they were about to grow claws. 

“Derek said he would help you through the transformation, show you how to control it, and stay safe.”

“Couldn’t I just lock myself in the garage or something?”

“Derek is a good guy, and he knows more about this then anyone I know.  He was born a werewolf, this has been his whole life.”

“Derek Hale?  A good guy?  Didn’t you say something about arresting him for murder in your other world?”  The Sheriff questioned.

Stiles half smiled.  “That was the other world, and besides, he didn’t actually kill _her_.”

“Oh, so he has never killed anyone?”  The Sheriff asked.

“Well…” Stiles needed to change the subject quickly and hope that his father didn’t notice.  “I may not know this Derek, but my Derek, eh, the other Derek, he is good.  This Derek, he said he would help, he can’t’ be that bad.”

“But he has killed people.”

Damn it, Stiles thought. Oh course he would notice, he’s the Sheriff.

“Dad,” Stiles begged.

“Stiles, I am the Sheriff.  If he has killed people, supernatural or otherwise, I need to know.”

“Yes, people have died, but they weren’t his fault or it was self-defense.  The supernatural world is a dangerous one, you have to understand that.  He’s not a murderer.”

“Why do you defend him?  He has killed people.”  Sheriff Stilinski questioned.

“Because I love him.”

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow.  “What?”

“Derek and I, the other Derek and I are together.  I love him, and he loves me.  And I know that in this Derek, somewhere is that same man.” Stiles didn’t know how this dad would react.  He looked down at the blankets in the bed and hoped everything would be alright.

“Do I know about this in your other world?” The Sheriff asked gently.

Stiles looked up smiling “Know about it?  You practically hooked us up.”

The Sheriff gave a quizzical look, “If you trust him, I guess I will go and talk with him.”


	12. Chapter 12

The last thing he remembered after his dad left to see Derek was trying to get back to sleep, so when Stiles woke up he was anxious to see if he was back in his room.  He opened his eyes slowly, it was dark.  It was very dark.

Unnaturally dark…

Stiles couldn’t see anything around him.  It wasn’t the hospital (there are always lights in the hospital).  He blindly reached out into the darkness, hoping to find a light or something somewhere in the room.  He found his cellphone laying near the pillow.  He hit the button to turn on the light.

He was in his room, but not _his_ room.  The windows were boarded up and the piles of books and school things had been replaced by survival gear and weapons.  This was not his world; this was somewhere new.

“Hello?”  He called out.  He hoped he wasn’t alone in the house; hoped his dad wasn’t at work.  He wanted to know what was going on in this world, why the windows were boarded. 

“Anyone out there?”  He called out again.

There was a noise coming from the hall.  Quickly  the noise moved to Stiles’ bedroom.  “Stiles, turn off that light.  You know better than that.” The voice was a harsh whisper.

Claudia Stilinski was fearfully moving into the room and reaching for her son’s phone.  “It is after dark, what are you doing?”

Stiles would never get used to seeing his mother.  “What?”  He questioned, “What happened?

“You got sick, but that is no excuse it is after dark and you know what is out there,”  Claudia hugged her son tightly and then sighed.  “I was so worried, when the hospital was overrun I brought you back here.  I was so afraid for you.   Melissa comes by most days to check on you; she will be so happy to see you woke up.”

“What?”  Stiles tried again.

“Are you alright?” Claudia asked.

“I don’t actually know.  What is happening?”

“What do you mean what is happening?  Stiles are you okay?”

Stiles didn’t know how he should answer this question.  If he told her the truth, without knowing what she knows about the supernatural world, it could freak her out.  But then again, he really has no clue what is going on.

“Stiles?”

“I don’t know.  I can’t remember, anything.”  He said honestly.

“What?” She was shocked.  “Stiles, you can’t remember anything?  The accident? The Rougarous attacking the jeep?”

Rougarous, New Orleans mythical wolf like humanoid (not unlike a werewolf), very aggressive, cannibalistic, often found in the bogs and swamps around the gulf (i.e. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida); Stiles’ brain supplied the facts.

“Rougarous?  No they aren’t supposed to be this far west, not any more.  Why would there be Rougarous here?”  Stiles rambled.  As he thought, Stiles remembered about the Rougarous Derek had talked about.  The one who showed up when Derek was young, but Derek said that Stiles’ dad (just a deputy at the time) had arrested the guy, thinking he was just a crazy man living in the woods with stolen goods, then found out he was a murder/cannibal.  “Where’s dad?”

Claudia’s face changed, even in the darkness, Stiles could see the pain come across her.  “Stiles, your dad, he died, he died when you were eight.  Don’t  you remember?”

The Sheriff was not in this world, which would explain the Rougarous.  “Alright this is going to seem weird, but just pretend I am a stranger who has never been here before.  How many Rougarous are there?”

“A pack of them.” Claudia answered.

“Only come out at night?”

“Yes,” Claudia answered.

“Are there werewolves around?”

“Werewolves?”

“Never mind, the Hale family, do they still live in the woods?”

“Who?”  Claudia wasn’t sure what Stiles was talking about.

“How long have the Rougarous been here?”

Claudia had to think about it.  “It seems like forever now, but it has been around ten years.”

“Do they eat people or just attack?”

“Eat.  Stiles what is with the questions?”

Stiles sighed.  “I am from, well I am from a parallel world.  I keep jumping timeline and I just wanted to know what was out there.”

“You are what?”

“I am from a different world.  Where I live there are werewolves and Dad and… and you…”  Stiles looked up at her, “You are gone; died when I was little.”

She watched him wondering how this could be true. “Then where is my Stiles?”

“What?”

“If you are not from this time, where is my Stiles?”

“I… I don’t know.  I guess I never really thought about it.  I mean every time I wake up, I have just been sleeping.”  Stiles made a mental note to ask Deaton, a Deaton, whenever/wherever he saw him next or maybe Derek would know.

Claudia reached out a hand and touched Stiles’ face.

“I’ve missed you, mom.”  Stiles said timidly.

“Oh, honey.”  Claudia didn’t know how to comfort this other Stiles.  Even if he wasn’t her Stiles, he was still her son.  She hugged him tightly.  “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

~*~

“Good morning, I wondered how long you were going to sleep.”  Derek pulled Stiles closer to his chest.

“Finally.  How long was I asleep?” Stiles questioned.

“I don’t know, eight hours or so.  Just a night, why?  How long have you been gone?”

“Three days; two with other you/my werewolf dad, and one with my mom.  She doesn’t live in a good place.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Rougarous, the one my dad found by accident, well my dad died and that one Rougarous has a pack and they terrorize Beacon Hills.  It was like being in a Zombie movie or something.  I got to talk with Deaton though.  He didn’t have anything good to say.”

“What did he say?”

“Basically he has never seen a Sylph who could jump worlds and that if I do not learn to control it I will no longer exist, or could cause reality to collapse on itself.”

“What are you going to do about your mom and the Rougarous?”

“What can I do?”

“You know how to fight Rougarous.” Derek encouraged.

“Fire, yeah, but I have only gone there, twice.  How do I know I will see her again?”  Stile thought about his mother.  “What happens to the other worlds if I am not there?  If I figure this out and stay here, what happens?  Are there other versions of me?”

Derek looked sad and serious.

“Derek?”

“When you jump timelines small parts of reality connect.  The three worlds used to be completely separate, but now they have a door connecting them.  You are that door.”

“What are you saying?”

“The other Stiles in those worlds, they don’t exist anymore.”

Stiles adopted the same serious and sad expression, “So when I learn to control _this_ ,” he gestured to himself, “and stay here, what I will just die or disappear in those other worlds?”

“Once you disconnect yourself from them, yes, you will be erased from their timelines.”

“I can’t do that.  I can’t leave them.”  Stiles was upset.  “How do you know this?”

Derek pulled Stiles close, “It was a story my grandmother told us when we were young.  I was afraid when you told me what was happening, and after you talk with Deaton… I knew it was true.  Stiles, I am so sorry.”

“What am I going to do?”  Stiles held onto Derek as a lifeline.


	13. Chapter 13

The sun was up, and Stiles had been nervously awake for about an hour.  He paced the room, it may be his first night home from the hospital, but it was his dad’s first night out as a werewolf.  He knew that his dad was going to be fine, but that didn’t change the uneasy feeling.

After what felt like eternity, but was actually a reasonable time, the Sheriff’s car pulled into the driveway.

Stiles practically tripped over himself as he ran to the door to greet his dad. “Well?” Stiles questioned.  “How was it?  What happened?”

“You’re dating that guy?”  The Sheriff raised one eyebrow. “He’s an arrogant bastard.”

“Yeah well, I’m not dating that one.  But yeah,” Stiles smiled, “He is.  It grows on you though.”

The Sheriff rolled his eyes.

“Well, what happened?” Stiles begged for information.

“It was nothing like I expected.  I was expecting lots of pain and losing control.  I mean I’ve only seen stuff in movies, but it’s really not like that at all is it?”

“Did you see the Alpha?  Hunters?  Anything?”

“Derek said he is going to follow your lead and check out his uncle.  There were hunters but we mostly stayed out of sight of them.  Their leader, I’ve met him, he’s new to town.  Argent, or something…”

“Chris Argent.  Yeah, he’s a good guy, but getting him to that point will take time.  Just try and stay off his radar, right now.  He sees you as just another monster who needs to be killed.  Mr. Argent will become an ally though,” Stiles mumbled ‘I hope’ under his breath.

“Good to know.”  The Sheriff went into the kitchen and made some coffee.  “Alright, so what you are telling me is everyone sucks now, but they will grow on me over time?”

Stiles smiled, “Yeah, you can say that.”

The Sheriff smiled and drank his coffee. 

~

The Sheriff showed up the work as though nothing was different this morning from the hundreds before it.  He knew that for the most part he would spend his day sitting at his desk finishing paperwork and then patrol in the afternoon.  But when he got inside, he realized his day was not going to be that easy.

Chris Argent was sitting on the bench waiting on him.  “Sheriff, good to see you this morning.”

“Mr. Argent, what can I do for you?”  The Sheriff said in his professional voice.

“Did you have a good night last night?”  Chris gave the Sheriff a knowing smile.

“Excuse me?”  The Sheriff replied.

“I think we need to talk.  In your office if you don’t mind.”  The smile disappeared off Argent’s face.

The Sheriff ushered Chris into his office and motioned for him to sit in the seat across from the desk.  “Was there something on your mind?”

“Sheriff, I know that I am new to this area, but I have already noticed that this town as a bit of a pest problem.”

“Pest problem?”

Argent’s smile returned to him, “In the preserve.  There are pretty aggressive animals, we noticed them last night, you know, on the full moon.”

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow.  “What are you saying?”

“I don’t think I need to say anything.  But I will warn you right now, we know, and we will have no problem getting rid of a few pest if bodies start showing up.  I know you are new to all of this, but if you hurt anyone, I don’t care if you are the Sheriff or not, I will put you down like any other monster I come across.”

Argent’s words made the Sheriff nervous, and he was very thankful for his training and ability to keep that fear away from his own expression.  “May I remind you, threatening a police officer is against the law.”

“Oh, it is not a threat.  Look at this as professional courtesy, and I will be keeping my eye on you.”

The Sheriff could feel his anger and fear getting the best of him.  He knew that if the Hunter stuck around much longer he may not keep ahold of his anchor.  “Well thanks for your concerns, but I think it is time you leave.”

“What’s the matter Sheriff, beginning to lose your temper?  Now we wouldn’t want that, would we.”  The fury in Chris’s voice was intimidating even for the Sheriff.  It was very near pure evil. 

Without another word, the Hunter left the Sheriff’s office, giving an obnoxious smile just as he reached the door.

As soon as the door shut, the Sheriff reached for his phone, “We have a problem.  Argent recognized me.”    


	14. Chapter 14

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Stiles said as he hung up his phone.  Mr. Argent has figured out his dad’s secret faster than he had hoped.  Stiles prayed that phone numbers were the same in this reality and he shot off a text message.

“What’s wrong man?”  Scott questioned.

Stiles had forgotten that Scott was at the house when he was on the phone with his dad.  “Um, it was my dad, and eh, well…”

Scott waited while his friend tried to come up with an answer.

With a sigh of indignation Stiles just told him the truth.  Stiles was a bad liar anyway.  “My dad’s a werewolf.  Just turned, last night was his first night.  And there are hunters in town, and they figured it out already.”

“Stiles are you feeling alright?”  Scott questioned.  “Maybe I should call your dad.”

“Scott, I’m serious.  I know it is hard to believe, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

“A werewolf, really?  Stiles, werewolves aren’t real.”

Stiles just smiled at his friend.  It seemed so weird to hear Scott say werewolves weren’t real.

A few minutes passed without much out of either boy, as they felt they were at an impasse.  Stiles knew it wasn’t going to be easy to convince his best friend, while Scott was thinking about whether or not he should call the Sheriff and let him know Stiles had lost his connection with reality again.

There was a bang as the bedroom window opened and a dark figure climbed into the room.

“You could have just texted back,” Stiles didn’t even flinch when Derek came into the room, “Oh, wait, no, this is perfect.”

Derek just glared at Stiles, “How did you get my number?”

“I got it from you, well, not you, but other you, you know?!” Stiles rambled.

“Who’s this?”  Scott questioned.

Stiles smiled, “This is Derek, and he’s a werewolf.  Show him, he doesn’t believe werewolves are real.”

Derek was glaring harder, if that was possible.  In one movement he had Stiles around the neck and pushed up against the wall.  Stiles head hit the wall with a crack, and Scott recoiled away from the two.  “What did I tell you?” Derek growled.

“We are going… to need.. his.. help!” Stiles said gasping for breath.

“Get off him!” Scott yelled.

Derek loosened his grip on Stiles’ throat. “Help with what?”

“Didn’t you read your text? Argent knows about my dad, and that mean he probably knows you are back in town.  He knows about your family.  Argent is a good man, comes from a bad family, but Mr. Argent is a good person.  We need to talk to him, away from the others, especially his father and sister.  And with Kate back in town we kind of have to move quickly.”

Derek growled at the mention of Kate Argent.

“Scott, he’s dating Mr. Argent’s daughter.  If I could talk to him, maybe I could convince him not to do anything stupid.”

“What makes you think that Hunter will see any reason?”  Stiles forgot how untrusting Derek had been when they first met.  He knew the pain the man had gone through, and just wished they could fast forward to happier times.

“I am just hoping.  I know what kind of ally he can be, I’ve seen it.  You’ve even gone to him for help.”

Derek glared at Stiles some more.

“What the hell is going on?”  Scott yelled out.

“Please?”  Stiles questioned Derek.

With a flash of blue eyes, Derek’s face transformed and he turned to look at Scott.

“Holy Crap!”  Scott jumped back and reached for his inhaler.

Stiles just smiled smugly.

“So as I was saying, my dad is now a werewolf and Allison’s dad figured it out.  I need you to call Allison and see if we can come over, so that I can talk with her dad.”

“That’s sounds a little weird.”  Scott stated as he recovered his breath and kept his distance from Derek.

“I don’t care what your reason is for us going over, but I really need to talk with Mr. Argent.”  Stiles was begging his friend.

Scott reached for his phone and dialed Allison’s number, “Hey,” He was feeling a bit like he had no idea what was going on, and yet as soon as Allison answered he was smiling the dorkiest smile.

The conversation between Scott and Allison was ridiculously sweet and adorable, Stiles tuned it out, turning back to Derek.  “How did _you_ know this was my bedroom?  You’ve never been here before.”

Derek just glared more at him.

“Look those glares do nothing to me.  I have been on the receiving end of them so long, I am no longer phased.  If anything they make me like you a bit more.”

“I followed your scent.”

Stiles smiled, “That’s a bit creeper-ish.”

Derek did not react, “If Kate is there; I will kill her.”

“And I wouldn’t blame you for a second.  I know what she did to your family, but I don’t know that my dad would be able to turn a blind eye to it.  She deserves to pay for what she did, but revenge will only hurt you.”  Stiles tried to convince the other Derek.

“… Yeah I miss you too.  I could come over, but I am staying with Stiles, he’s not supposed to be alone… Yeah, I could bring him over with me… Yeah, alright…. I guess we will see you in a bit.”  Scott finished his conversation on the phone, “I love you too.  Bye!”

“Now, that’s my boy!” Stiles said seeing the success on Scott’s face.  “Alright, let’s go.  I will text my dad that we are leaving, and I will let you know anything that happens.”  Stiles said to Derek patting one hand on the older man’s face.

Derek growled.

“Oh Buddy, you will grow to love me!”  Stiles said with a smile as he gathered his things.  “Alright, let’s…”

~*~

Stiles sat up in bed, “Son of a bitch.”

The Sheriff came running into Stiles room.  It was late and there was just the light of the street lights shining in Stiles’ room.  “Stiles, what is wrong?”

“Eh, nothing, it was, eh, nothing.”  Stiles tried to right himself in bed.  “Eh, where’s Derek?”

“I sent him home for the night.”  The Sheriff stared at his son, “Why do I feel the two of you are hiding something from me.”

Stiles didn’t respond.

“Stiles, I think I have handled everything up until now just fine, you can tell me.”

Stiles sighed, “I want to know what is going on before I worry you.”

The Sheriff folded his arms across his chest.  “Stiles, I’m the adult.  Let me decide what to worry about.”

“It just that I am losing control, and I don’t know how to stop it from happening.”

The Sheriff walked to the bed and hugged his son tightly.  “We will get all of this figured out, don’t worry about it.”

Stiles’ body went limp in the Sheriff’s arms.  “Stiles, Stiles, can you hear me?  Stiles?”  The Sheriff shook his son and patted his face trying to wake him.

\\*/

“Stiles, what happened?”  Scott leaning over his friend as Stiles began to wake up.

“I thought you said that only happened when you were sleeping?”  Derek commented.

“Mostly, yeah, but not always.” Stiles picked himself up off the floor.

Derek’s expression hardened as soon as Stiles looked at him.  Had Stiles not known him as well as he did he would have missed the worried look that was present moments before.  “That’s not good.”

Stiles gave him a questioning look, “What do you mean?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are spoilers for S3E23 "Insatiable"

“When you jump time in your sleep you remain in control.  You may not know how to control where you go, but you control when you jump.  If you are passing out and switching lines, it is the first sign that you worlds are folding in on each other.  Deaton said that if you didn’t learn to control it quickly…”

“Yeah, I know what will happen.  I thought I would have had more time to get this right.”  Stiles looked down at the floor, and with a breath he readied himself.  “I have to worry about that later.  Now we need to get to Allison’s.”

Derek stayed at the Stilinski house while Stiles and Scott got in Scott’s car and drove across town to the Argent’s home. 

“What is going on?”  Scott questioned as soon as they were out of the driveway.  “Werewolves? And what happened back there?”

“Scott you are not going to believe this, but…”  Stile thought of what would be the best way to explain this to his friend.  “I am… I’m not from this world.”

“An Alien, right,” Scott rolled his eyes.

“Not exactly.  Have you heard of the many world’s theory?”  Stiles asked.

“No,” Scott replied.

Stiles thought for a moment then began explaining.  “Basically it is a theory that there are many dimensions out there all fairly similar, but different based on decisions made.  There are infinite number of worlds, blah, blah, blah, anyway I guess I am a Sylph.  An air walker, and I can jump into these parallel worlds.  The world that I am from, well it is different from this world, but not that much.  Also this is my past.  I have seen all of this before.”

“What?  Fine tell me something you couldn’t know,” Scott wasn’t sure if he should believe him or not.

“Allison’s dad, his name is Chris, her aunt Kate just got into town.  She’s no good man.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I have lived all of this before,” Stiles knew there had to be a way to make Scott understand, he just wasn’t finding it.

“So, back in your room when you passed out…” Scott started.

Stiles sighed, “I woke up in _my_ world.  Just for a moment though.”

“Your world,” he stated.  “Alright, then where is Stiles for this world?”

“That is very complicated.”  Stiles knew that now was not the time to talk about that.

The two sat in silence as they drove.

When they got to the house Stiles finally spoke up, “I am going to try and find a way to talk with Mr. Argent.  Allison doesn’t know about the supernatural world yet, and she doesn’t know that her family is made up of hunters.  I think it is best if you two make an excuse to sneak upstairs or something.”

“But Stiles, how do you know he is going to listen to you?”

“I don’t, but I have to try.”  Stiles said honestly.

The two boys walked up the driveway to the door and rang the doorbell.  Kate is the one who answered the door.  “Ooo, what a couple of cuties.  Don’t you two just look charming.” She flirted, “How can I help you?”

“Um, is Allison home?”  Scott asked trying to hide his blush.

Stiles tried to hide his glare.

“Allison, there are two gorgeous boys here to see you,” She yelled up the stairs.

Within moments not only Allison, but Chris also made his way to the door.

Allison smiled, “Aunt Kate, this is Scott McCall, and I can only assume this is Stiles.”  She introduced the two boys, “This is my Aunt Kate; she just got in last night.”

Scott exchanged a look with Stiles.

“Oh and the creepy guy lurking back there, that’s my dad.”  She pointed to Mr. Argent.

“So what’s your last name Stiles?”  Mr. Argent questioned.

“Eh, Stilinski, sir.”

Chris walked towards the door, “Stilinski, related to Sheriff Stilinski?”

“Yes sir, he’s my father.”

Mr. Argent surveyed the boy closely, as though Stiles was going to wolf out right in the entrance way.  The small group walked into the living room and all sat down.  Stiles, Scott, and Allison all sat on a couch while Chris and Kate sat across from them in chairs.  The whole situation felt awkward, without a real reason (except for the fact that Chris was a werewolf hunter, and Stiles’ dad was a werewolf… oh and Kate killed Derek’s family in a house fire, and Stiles was in love with Derek… but then again no one else knew all these pieces except Stiles).

“So, how do you all know each other?”  Kate finally broke the silence.

“Eh, well Scott and I go to school, and Stiles is Scott’s best friend.”  Allison started.

“Oh, Stiles do you go to a different school?  I didn’t realize there was another one in town.” Chris questioned.

“Eh, no, actually I just got out of the hospital so I haven’t been to school yet this school year.”  Stiles looked Chris dead in the eyes when he spoke.

“Hospital?”  Kate jumped in, “I hope everything is alright.”

“Well, yeah, I had an accident, a car crash and I was in a coma.  Which is why I have to tag along today, can’t be left alone and all that jazz.” Stiles gave Scott a look.

“Eh, Allison, can I barrow your notes for English?”  Scott asked.

“Yeah, sure they are in my room.”  Both Allison and Scott stood and started to walk to Allison’s room.

“I think it is best if he stays down here.”  Mr. Argent spoke directly to his daughter.

“Oh come on Chris,” Kate came to Allison’s aid.  “They are teenagers.”

Chris just glared.

“Fine would you feel better if I went upstairs also?  I have to get my phone off the charger anyway.”

Chris nodded and the three disappeared up the stairs, and then turned his attention to Stiles. 

When the others were out of ear shot, Stiles spoke, “Look, you are a hunter and you know that my dad is a werewolf, and right now you are probably wondering if I am also a werewolf.  I’m not, not that you are going to take my word for it.  I have more important things to talk to you about.”

Chris was glaring at him with one eyebrow raised.

“Trust me,” Stiles looked the Hunter straight in the eyes, “We are going to work better as allies than we will as enemies.”

Mr. Argent crossed his arms across his chest, “And how would you know that?”

“Well for one, we have a common enemy; the Alpha, and he if he is not stopped it is going to be devastating.”

“Do you know the Alpha,” Chris asked.

“Well we haven’t met here yet, but…” Stiles tried to get around the question.

Chris’s expression would strike fear in even the toughest of men.  “Yes or No?”

Stiles paused a moment, “To be honest…”

~*~

Stiles opened his eyes; Derek and his father were sitting near him. 

“…I am sorry but I can’t let you.”  Derek was saying.

“Can’t let me?”  The Sheriff’s voice was raised.  “He’s my son.”

“Shit,” Stiles declared, “Sorry.”  Stile took a breath then looked at his dad.  “Well there it is, that’s my secret.”

“Stiles,” The Sheriff was worried.  “We need to get you back to the hospital.”

“Dad, no, it is not that.  This is a supernatural thing.”  Stiles was all but begging his dad to believe him.

“Supernatural unconsciousness?”  The Sheriff questioned in disbelief.

To be honest if Stiles was on the receiving end of this conversation, he wasn’t sure he would believe it either. 

“It is more like time travel/parallel universe supernatural.  I don’t really understand it well enough to explain it, but right now,” He took a breath and looked to Derek. “I need to talk to Mr. Argent before I go back.”

“Mr. Argent?”  Derek questioned.

“Well he has learned that my dad is a werewolf and if you remember him back then, he is ready to fight.  I got to get him to understand that is not a good idea.”

“A werewolf?”  The Sheriff questioned.

“The main timeline I go to, Scott didn’t get bit that night, eh well, I guess you did, but the other you.  I am sorry that never gets easier to explain to people.”  Stiles turned back to Derek.  “Do you have his number?  I really need to talk to him.  Last time this only lasted a few minutes.”

“Stiles I don’t know that he is ready to talk with you.”  Derek expressed apologetically.

Stiles looked deep into Derek’s eyes hoping to see some clue as to what he has missed.  “What happened?”

“Stiles,” The Sheriff put a hand on Stiles arm, “Allison died at Eichen House.  When the Nogitsune took control of the Oni, he used them to killed her.”

“What?”  The tears were forming in Stiles eyes.  He was the cause of yet another death.  “No, no, no, no, that’s…”  Stiles couldn’t breathe.  He wished someone would have killed him from the start.  If he had died, then the Nogitsune would have died with him, and no one else would be dead.  “It’s all my fault.”

Derek hugged him tightly, “This is not your fault.  We all know the dangers of this life, the Argents more than most.  You cannot blame yourself for the Nogitsune.”

Stiles cried as Derek held him.  The Sheriff watched and wished he could remove all this pain from his son’s life.

Then suddenly, as though a light switch had been turned off, Stiles collapsed in a limp lifeless form.

Derek laid him back down on the bed, “He’s gone again.  He’ll be back.”

“You have a lot of explaining to do.”  The Sheriff said to Derek.

\\*/

“Scott, get down here.”  Chris called form the living room.  “Your friend, he just…”

Scott quickly ran down the stairs to see Mr. Argent lifting Stiles’ lifeless body off the floor.

“Stiles?”  Scott called out as he got closer to his friend.  “Stiles, can you hear me?”

“Has this ever happened before?”  Kate asked when she got down the stairs.

Scott looked up at her, “Yeah, before we came over here.  He was teasing Derek and then just crashed to the floor. He woke up a few minutes later and Derek was really worried about it, but didn’t seem to bother Stiles.”

“Derek?”  Kate inquired with a glare.

“Derek Hale?”  Chris followed up.

“Yeah, do you know him?”  Scott answered. 

Both Kate and Chris exchanged looks which spoke volumes to one another.

A moment later Stiles opened his eyes.  “Shit,” he said as he tried to sit up.  Allison was at his side helping him.  Stiles immediately felt the urge to hug her and hold her tight, and promise that he was going to change the future and she was not going to die.  But he knew that would raise a few alarms in the hunters who were sitting near him.  “Mr. Argent, I need to talk with you!” He finally demanded.

It was either the way Stiles spoke with authority or Chris’s general curiosity about what Stiles wanted to talk about, but he put up no argument and ushered Stiles into his office to talk.

“Sit here,” Chris pointed to a chair, “In case you pass out again.  I wouldn’t want you to get hurt if you pass out again.”

Stiles did as he was told.  “Mr. Argent,” the tears were once again forming in Stiles’ eyes.  “I need you to trust me.  I am not from this world, this reality, whatever you want to call it.  And in my world, a series of event lead up a Nogitsune getting release from the Nemeton.  The Nogitsune kills Allison.”

Chris searched Stiles expression for any sign that he was lying.

“I need you to trust me.  We have to change the future.”

“What do you want from me?”


	16. Chapter 16

*****

_As Stiles walked out to Scott’s car, Derek grabbed Scott’s arm, “If that happens again, you call me. Understood!?”_

_Even if Derek wasn’t as intimidating as he is, Scott would have agreed.  Whatever was happening with Stiles was getting worrisome.  “Yeah, okay.”_

_Derek handed him a phone number scribbled out on a bit of scrap paper._

*

Scott watched as Stiles walked into the other room with Mr. Argent, “I’ve got to make a call.”  He excused himself from the room and called Derek.

“It happened again.” Scott said as soon as the phone was answered.

“How long was he down?”  Derek asked.

“Just a couple of minutes.”

“Did the Argents see?”

“Yeah, he was talking with Mr. Argent when it happened.”

“Shit,” Derek thought for a moment, “Where is he now?”

“He is in Mr. Argent’s office talking.”

Derek was anxious when he replied, “Get him out of there.  There is no knowing what the Hunters will do to him now that they know that he is not a normal human.  Get him out of there and take him to the vet clinic, do you know where that is?”

“Dr. Deaton’s?  Yeah, I work there.  Why?”

“I will meet you there, just get him out of there.” 

“Derek…  Derek?” The line was dead.  Scott looked around, Allison and Kate were still in the living room and they had not listened in on his conversation, or at least were not showing any sign that they had heard him.

~

“If Peter Hale is the Alpha, then we need to go kill him.”  Mr. Argent glared at Stiles.

“You are not listening to me.  Peter Hale is currently in a nursing home, in a catatonic state, and completely out of his mind.  He doesn’t know what he is doing, and yeah, at one point I was right there with you.  I was ready for him to be dead, but he, I can’t believe I am saying this, is actually a valuable asset.  But he does need to be stopped.”

“Why should I trust you, you are working with the Hales.”

“Hales?  I am working with Derek, there are no other Hales.  Your sister saw to that!”  Stiles was angry.  Of course there was still Cora, but the less this Argent knew about Derek’s family, it was probably for the best.

“My sister?”

“Your sister is the one who set fire to the Hale house and killed them.  Killed all of them, Men, women, children, some of them werewolves, but not all, your sister is a murderer.”

Chris was seething, and Stiles didn’t know if it was directed at him or at Kate.

Stile’s phone buzzed, **From: Scott: “Derek says we have to go to Deaton’s… Let’s go!”**

“I can look past that, and come to you for help,” Stiles started, “Yes, part of it is selfish, because I don’t want you to hurt my dad, but can’t you see we need to work together.”

“But the Alpha is a murderer,” Chris glared.

“And he is not the only one.”  Stiles nodded towards the door which lead back to Kate.  “We have to find a way to contain him at least until we find a way to help him.”

Chris didn’t say anything.

“Anyone would lose their mind if they were forced to sit for ten years in pain, knowing their whole family was gone, and there was nothing, literally nothing, they could do about it.  He couldn’t move, couldn’t talk it out, and couldn’t grieve.  It would happen to anyone.”

Again the phone buzzed, **From Scott: “Come on! He said to get you out of here!”**

When Stiles looked up from his message, Mr. Argent’s expression had softened a bit.  “Alright, but if anyone else dies, I have a code to stick to.”

“Thank you!”  Stiles stood up and walked towards the door.

“Oh, and Stilinski,” Mr. Argent called out just as Stiles reached the door, “Make sure your dad stays in control.  I will keep my distance so long as there are no incidents.”

“Thank you!” Stiles said again.  He walked out of the office and back to Scott.  “We need to get going.”  Stiles said directly.

“Yeah,” Scott politely turned back to Kate and Allison, “Um, it was eh, nice to meet you.”  He said to Kate.  Then he hugged Allison, “I guess I will see you at school.”

Allison gave a confused smile.  “Yeah, alright.  Bye.”

Stiles gave a sheepish wave and the two boys left the house.

While in the car, Stiles questioned Scott, “What does Derek want?”

“He wanted me to tell him if you passed out again.  He’s really worried about you.”

“Why does he want us to go to Deaton’s?”  Stiles tried to ignore that Derek cared.  This was not his Derek.  This Derek was mean, and a jerk.  He doesn’t care for anyone but himself.

“He didn’t say.”

Stiles was quiet for the rest of the drive.  Mainly he was trying to convince himself that even if Derek cared, it was because that was the humane thing to do, not because he had any sort of feelings for Stiles.  Derek, this Derek, didn’t love him, and never could.

Deaton’s truck and Derek’s Camaro were the only cars outside of the clinic.

“This seems to be moving faster than I thought it would,” Deaton looked at Stiles with sympathy and alarm. 

“Not really what you want to hear from the doctor.” Stiles half smiled.

No one else smiled.  Everyone watched Stiles with concern, as though at any moment he would drop dead.  Which, to be honest, was not completely outside the realm of possibilities. The Veterinarian motioned for Stiles to sit on the exam table.

“How often has this happened?”  Deaton used his pin light to look in his eyes, as though this was any other illness.

“The passing out, umm, three times.” Stiles blinked into the light. “I think.”

Deaton gave him a pointed stare.  “Do you still wake up in the other worlds every time you go to sleep?”

“No, not every time but most,” Stiles raised an eyebrow, “Is that a problem?”

Deaton didn’t answer.  He turned and went back to the stack of books sitting on his desk.  He flipped through an old one until he found what he was looking for, “Here.”  Deaton brought the book back to the group.  “According to this, ‘if a Sylph who has knowledge of other realms comes along, he will lose control more quickly.  The loss of control can end worlds.’”

“Does it say anything about how to stop it?” Stiles craned his neck to see the book, not that it mattered, the book was written in some archaic language he did not understand.

“There is a ritual to ‘tie’ a Sylph to a world, but it is going to take time to get ready.  I will work as fast as I can, but you have to perform the ritual in your world, the world you want to stay in.”  Deaton told him.

Stiles thought, where was he going to stay?  In his world he had caused so much destruction, and here he had a chance to change the future. 

Stiles looked up suddenly, something wasn’t right, “Eh, Doc something is wrong.”  Stiles’ body went really stiff and ridged with his head snapping up as he passed out convulsing on the table.

“Stiles!  Stiles?”  Both Derek and Scott’s voice could be heard as everything went dark for Stiles.

~\\*/~

“Stiles, come one Stiles, please wake up!”  Claudia was shaking her son.  “Come on, I got to get you out of here!”

Stiles blinked awake, “What, what happened?”

“The house is surrounded.  We have to get out of here.  I don’t know what caused them to come here, but we have to find a way out, now.”

“What?”  Stiles got up.

“The Rougarous have the house surrounded.”  Claudia was a strong woman, who had clearly survived a lot in her lifetime.  Stiles wished he could stay with her and get to know his mother better.

“Have you tried fighting them?”  Stiles rushed to the bathroom and opened the cabinet under the sink. 

“Stiles, what do you mean fight them?” She called after him.  “Nothing works, people have tried, and they always end up dead.  Stabbing them or shooting them just makes them angry as they heal.  Once someone cut ones’ head off, but it just regrew.”

 He looked through the cabinet, and he soon reemerged with several aerosol cans of air freshener and went to the closet where he got a couple of long multi-purpose lighters.  “Have you tried fire?”

“Fire?”  She gave him a look.

“Yes, fire kills them.  They can’t fight it off or heal from it.”  Stiles smiled as he tested his new weapon.  After igniting the lighter, he sprayed the aerosol; the result was a burst of flames.  “I do believe this will work.”

Stiles went downstairs.

“Wait, no Stiles, wait.  How do you know this will work?” Claudia questioned him.

“Because I have seen it work,” Stiles tried to reassure her. 

Downstairs the windows and door were heavily boarded up and blocked.  There was no light downstairs and Stiles could hear the Rougarous outside.  They were talking and hitting at the walls, looking for a weak point.  “Come out and play lady!”  One was calling inside.

“We know you are in there,” said another.

Claudia was praying as Stiles began moving closer to the door.  “Stiles.”

Stiles paused before moving the boards in front of the door, “Mom, trust me!”

She nodded at him, and he opened the door.

Outside was a line of men, if you could call them that.  Their eyes were dark and glassed over, their teeth were sharp, and their mouth/clothes were covered in blood, clearly this group had already eaten tonight.

Before they could move Stiles lit them, one by one, on fire and watched as they screamed out in pain.  It did not take long for others to take notice, both the neighbors and other Rougarous.   Within minutes there was a flaming pile of the monsters in the yard and the threat was gone, for now as the others had run away. People came out of their homes cautiously to see what had happened.

“Stiles, you’ve saved us.  How did you know this?”  Claudia hugged her son tightly.

“A friend taught me a long time ago.”  Stiles smiled at the thought of Derek quizzing him, one summer, on hundreds of supernatural beings and how to protect himself from the dangerous ones.

As the neighbors began moving closer, cheering and talking with Claudia, Stiles was getting light headed.  “Mom,” he called out, but she did not hear him.  “I love you, mom.”  He knew that this was going to be the last time he saw his mother and that he was being pulled, quickly somewhere else.

Stiles’ body went lifeless and he crashed to the ground.

~*~

“… He can’t know.”  The Sheriff was telling Derek.  “He blames himself for Allison and Deaton, this, this is just too much.”


	17. Chapter 17

“What can’t I know?”  Stiles set up off the bed.  All these storylines were dizzying.

“Stiles, hey, man you’ve been out a long time.” Derek moved quickly to Stiles’ side followed by his dad.

“How long?”  Stiles asked.

“Nearly a week,” The Sheriff told his son.

“A week?” Stiles asked.  “What happened?”

“Stiles, don’t,” Derek warned.  “Not now.”

“Who died?”

The Sheriff and Derek gave each other a knowing look.  The Sheriff walked over to Stiles, “Melissa, didn’t make it.  Scott just called us.”

Crushing, the weight of everything, all of this, was crushing.  Stiles was never going to forgive himself.  For a brief moment this world was beautiful and real; he was in love and things were going to be alright.  Stiles held onto his dad, tears pouring out of his eyes.  Melissa was like a mother for most of his childhood.  She was his actual mother’s best friend and his only connection to her (in this world).  And now, now she was gone?  How could a world continue with such pain and loss?  Stiles blamed himself.  If he had fought the Nogitsune, or found a way to get rid of it sooner, none of this would have happened.  People, lots of people, people he was very close to are now dead, and there is nothing he can do…

Stiles sits up and wipes at the tears on his face, “You should go be with Scott, he needs you.”  He told Derek.  Derek and Scott had been at odds for years, but the recent event brought them together like family.

“I’m going to stay with you,” Derek put a comforting hand on Stiles arm.

“No, Scott needs you.” Stiles insisted.

Derek nodded and with a kiss to Stiles head he walked out of the house. 

Stiles took in a shaky breath.

“This isn’t your fault,” The Sheriff tried to comfort.

“No, it is.”  Stiles looked up at his dad, and he knew what he had to do.  “I have caused so much pain, hurt so many people.  It’s all because I was not strong enough to hold it off.”  He began crying again.

“Stiles.”  The Sheriff interrupted.

“This world would be better off without me.  I can’t help anyone, not here, not after what’s happened.  I am the problem.  If I wasn’t here, maybe, maybe this world would be a little better.  I can’t hurt anyone if I don’t exist.  Maybe if I am tied to that other world, I can save them from making the same mistakes.  And here, maybe if I was never born, maybe none of this will have happened.  You will all be better off without me.”

The Sheriff was crying, “Stiles please don’t say that.”

“Dad, I have hurt everyone, EVERYONE.  Your life would be so much better if I weren’t here.”

“No, no, _you_ are my life, and without you… Without you I’m nothing.”  The Sheriff hugged his son tightly, “And what about Derek?  He loves you, you know.”

“I…  I can’t…” Stiles was choked up, “I’m sorry.”

Stiles knew what he had to do.  The choice was finally clear.  Stiles let go of that world and his body fell limp in the Sheriff’s arms again.

“No, no, no, no, Stiles, no…” The Sheriff cried.

\\*/

Stiles was still crying when he woke up again in Deaton’s office.

“What happened?” Scott ran to Stiles’ side.

“I’ve made my decision.”  Stiles wiped at the tears.  Everyone in the room watched Stiles with concern.

“Stiles what happened?”  Deaton questioned.

“My mother was trying to wake me.  The house was being attacked…”

“What?!” Deaton was on alert.

“We fought off the Rougarous.  They didn’t know how to fight them.”  Stiles paused for a moment; he was going to miss his mother, but was thankful for a few moments more with her.

“Then why are you crying?”  Derek asked.

“Again Stiles wiped at his face, “I my world, we are just coming out of a battle, a devastating battle.  We were attacked and after a crazy series of event I was possessed with a Nogitsune (an evil trickster spirit).” He clarified. “The Nogitsune fed off of pain and destruction, and he was never satisfied.  He, through me, killed so many people.  I just learned of another and…”Stiles couldn’t continue, it hurt too much, and he was going to start crying again.

Everyone watched Stiles as he continued.  “I’ve made my decision, I am going to stay here, and hopefully I can change things this time, so that this world does not see the pain that my world faced.  I have already said my good byes, I can’t go back.”

Deaton was the first to speak up, “You moved between the worlds by your own will.  You woke up in a parallel world when your mother tried to wake you.  You knew you were going to go, you felt it.  And in you came here by choice, didn’t you.”

Stiles nodded.

“The worlds are connecting. We need to do the ritual tonight to keep the vale between them.  It is getting thin.”  Deaton moved to his cabinets gathering things.

“Well, well, well, looks like we have a party in here,” Kate Argent walked into the clinic; automatic rifle slung over one shoulder and head cocked confidently. As she looked from person to person, her eyes stopped when she saw Derek.  “Derek, boy you grew up,” the Cheshire grin she was sporting looked evil and menacing. 

No one moved.  Clearly she was ready to take down anyone who stood in her way.

“Now I have plenty of wolfsbane bullets to take out every one of you, no problem.”  She was staring straight at Derek.  “So I suggest you tell me where the Alpha is.”

“I don’t know who the Alpha is,” Derek answered.

“No, you don’t, do you?”  Kate moved to Stiles.  “But your friend here, he does!  So how about it, Stiles?  You going to tell me who the Alpha is, or am I going to have to start shooting.”

“Doesn’t you family have a code about hurting innocents?” Deaton tried to reason with her.

Kate smiled at him, “Oh my family and its codes.  If you ask me, it is time to forget the codes and start seeing results.  So Stiles, start speaking.”

“You want me to start speaking?  You are a crazy bitch.  How’s that for speaking?  You spend so much time hurting others you have forgotten your purpose.  I am not going to tell you who the Alpha is because you will only cause more destruction.  I will not be part of that.”

Kate was livid, “You tell me or…”  The aim of the rifle dropped to her side; directly at Derek’s heart.

“Stop,” Stiles called out, “wait.”

Kate waited, one eyebrow raised. 

Stiles walked forward, he put himself between Kate’s gun and Derek.  “You can’t do this.  I am not going to let you.”

“Oh silly, silly boy, you don’t think your humanity is going to save you.  I have killed people before.  Ask Derek,” She smiled over Stiles’ shoulder at Derek, “How’s the family?”

Derek was growling low, but didn’t move.

“I will give you to the count of three!  One… Two…”  Kate cocked the gun.

Chris Argent walked into the clinic just in time to see Kate call out “Three!” and shoot Stiles without even flinching. “Kate!” He yelled as he watched the boy fall to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EHHHH! I didn't get to see the finale tonight :( Oh MAN! I can't wait till tomorrow!!!


	18. Chapter 18

“Stiles, Stiles, no, hey, stay with me!”  Derek caught Stiles just before he hit the ground.  “Stay with me!”  He kept repeating.

Chris Argent got ahold of Kate and with Deaton’s help she was now being detained in the back room until the authorities could get there.

Stiles opened his eyes and smiled, a dreamy, pained smile, “Hey Sourwolf.”

“Stiles, you stay with me, you understand.”

Stiles smile widened.  “It’s alright.  It is,” Stiles’ voice was shaky, but Stiles kept smiling at Derek.

Derek held Stiles close to him, “We are going to get through this,” Derek tried to assure him.

“No, really, this is probably for the best.”  Stiles’ body was going into shock and he began shaking.

“Stiles hold on, an ambulance will be here.  It is on its way now.  Just hold on!”

Stiles reached out a hand and touched Derek’s face, “I know… I know you aren’t my Derek, but…” he began coughing, “You have to learn to trust people.”  There was a long pause as Stiles regain the strength to talk again.  “There are a lot of people willing to help you, you just have to ask.”

Derek watched as Stiles was fading, “They are almost here, just hold on.”  To Derek’s surprise there were tears forming in his eyes.  “I can hear them, they are coming.”

“I… I love you.” Stiles breathed.

Derek clutched Stiles’ body tighter. The boy was nearly gone, and help was too far away.

Outside a string of emergency vehicles pulled into the parking lot, all with lights flashing but the sirens silenced as they parked.  The Sheriff was the first one out of his car and into the clinic.

Stiles was soon loaded into the back of the ambulance; the Sheriff road along.  Scott followed behind in his car.

There was no pulse, but they all had to remain hopeful.

“The ritual still has to be performed.”  Deaton told Derek, “I am going to need your help, it could save him.”

Derek nodded, ready to do anything if there was a chance it could save Stiles.

~

Derek drove to the hospital, he had the supplies and the worlds from Deaton and with Deaton’s words in his mind he drove as fast as he legally could. _“Even if he is gone, you have to do the ritual.”_

Stiles’ couldn’t be gone; Derek had just gotten to know him.  He knew that in that other world, he, or at least other him, had a relationship with Stiles.  At first, he couldn’t believe it, but it only took a few moments together for Derek to understand, there was something special about Stiles.  Derek wasn’t ready to lose that, not yet.

When he walked into the hospital, Derek saw Scott sitting in the waiting room crying. 

“Where is he?”  Derek questioned.

Scott looked up, he shook his head, “He’s gone.  They couldn’t…”

Derek’s breath caught in his throat.  “Where is he?”  Derek asked softer.  “I have to,” He held up the items from Deaton.  “Deaton said…” Derek couldn’t get a whole sentence out.

Scott pointed towards the double doors.

Derek ran towards the doors.  There was a nurse in the window by the door, “Can I help you?” She asked.

“I need Stiles, eh, Stiles Stilinski.”

“And you are?” 

“I’m his… he’s my, eh,” Derek didn’t have the words. 

The nurse seemed to understand.  “I will have someone escort you.” She motioned for another nurse to come over, “Could you escort, eh Mr. …”

“Hale.”

“Mr. Hale to…” There was a sorrowful expression on the head nurses’ face.  “To Stiles.”

The young nurse nodded.  It hadn’t been that long since Stiles got out of the hospital.  All of the nurses seemed to know him.  Derek understood, he was a presence that could not be ignored.

Derek followed the young nurse as she walked him down a hallway to a dark room.

The Sheriff was crying, holding Stiles’ hand, “He’s gone.”  Were the only words the Sheriff could say. 

Derek’s eyes were brimming with tears.  He just stood there watching Stiles body, waiting for him to wake up, to move.  Stiles couldn’t be gone, he just couldn’t.

The Sheriff looked up at Derek, “What happened?! What happened to my son?!”

Derek was overwhelmed with grief, “He saved me.  He saved my life.”

“Who did this to him?”

“Kate, Kate Argent.”  Derek just wanted to hold Stiles and make everything better.  Just wanted to rewind time and hear the boy’s annoying rambling.

The Sheriff took in a deep breath.  “Deaton send you with that?” 

Derek looked at the items he was carrying, “Yeah, said I had to, even… even if…” Derek couldn’t bring himself to say it.

The Sheriff nodded and Derek began setting things up for the ritual.

~

Kate Argent had been in jail for a few days and no one spoke to her unless there was no other choice.  A deputy silently brought her into an interrogation room and left her. 

She waited for what seemed like forever before the Sheriff walked into the room.  “Ms. Argent?”  He said keeping his calm.

“About time.  I was beginning to think that no one in this place was able to speak.  What you are doing here, it’s not legal.  I have rights.”

“Ms. Argent, you killed a boy, and there were witnesses.”

“That boy fell in with a bad crowd, Sheriff.”  There was no remorse in her words.

“That boy,” The Sheriff tried to ground himself, to keep his calm.  “That boy was my son.”

Kate’s face fell as she looked up to meet the Sheriff’s gaze, and his eyes flashed gold.  “Not only did you kill my son, but your brother says you admitted to the Hale fire that killed 10 people and left one severely injured.”

“You’re one of them.”  Kate, for the first time, felt a tremor of fear.  “You’re a monster.”

“Oh I am,” The Sheriff said as he slowly started to transform.  First his eyes, then his face, his teeth and finally his claws, “And you are all alone in this world.  There is no one going to come save you.”

The Sheriff moved towards Kate, and there was nowhere for her to go.  The Sheriff seized her by the throat and lifted her off the floor, “You are lucky that I stick to my code.  I will not break the law, and that makes me more human then you have ever been.”  The Sheriff dropped her to the ground.

“I’ll tell them,” She said as the Sheriff transformed back into his human exterior.  “I’ll tell everyone what you are.”

The Sheriff smiled, “Who is going to believe you?  The Sheriff is a werewolf, the Sheriff whose son you murdered, is a monster?  You’re the monster and no one will ever listen to you again.  You are going away for a long time, I can promise you that, and in jail, they don’t take kindly to people who kill children, especially cops’ kids, and even more so when he’s my son.  Everyone loved my son!”

Kate’s face went pale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay Tuned... this isn't over yet!!!!!


	19. Chapter 19

“What do the different colored strings mean?”  Lydia asked Stiles.

Stiles blinked trying to clear his mind.  He didn’t know what happened, but he was staring at his wall, in his bedroom.  The walls were covered in papers and photos, each connected together with red strings and thumb tacks.  “Eh… They each stand for different parts of the investigation; green is solved, yellow is to be determined, and blue, it’s pretty.  Lydia, did I pull the fire alarm today?”  Stiles turned to her.

“Yes, are you alright?”  Lydia sat up and prepared herself incase Stiles had another panic attack.

“We have to go!  We have to go now!”  Stiles pulled out his phone and called Scott.

Lydia followed Stiles out of the bedroom and down the stairs, “What happened.  What’s going on?  Stiles?! Wait up!”

“Hey Scott, hey buddy!  Where are you?”  Stiles ran straight to the jeep and once he and Lydia were fastened in he pulled out quickly.  “You are at Kira’s?  Good, stay there.  Oh and Scott, don’t let anyone leave the house or open the door.  Trust me!”

“Stiles, what is going on?”  Lydia begged.

“I know where Barrow is, and I know how to change everything!”  Stiles smiled. “Call my dad!”

“And tell him what?”

“Tell him we know where Barrow is; get him to the Yukimura house, now!  Barrow is after Kira, and her is there just waiting to take her.”

Lydia gave him a questioning look, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure I’m sure!”  Stiles pulled into Kira’s driveway.  He knew that Barrow was probably nearby, so he did not get out immediately; instead he called Scott again.  “Scott, I really need you to open the door as soon as we get to it.  Barrow is hanging around somewhere and I don’t want to risk it.”

“Risk what?”

“I will explain when I get in,”

“What about Kira’s parents?”

“I need to talk with them also.  Alright we are moving.  Open up!”

Stiles and Lydia ran from the car in through the front door.

“What is going on?” asked Mr. Yukimura as two more of his students ran into his house.

Stiles took a breath as every eye in the house was suddenly looking his direction.  “Barrow wasn’t just after anyone when he went to the school.  Barrow is after Kira, and I know because I think it is my fault he knows where to find her.”

Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura both looked shocked, “What?”

“There was a situation which ended with human sacrificing and the reawakening of the Nemeton, and while we were all affected,” Stiles looked towards Scott, “You, Allison, and I.  I was affected in a very different way, and I don’t know why.  The reawakening of the Nemeton released the Nogitsune, as I am sure you already know.”  Stiles was looking at Mrs. Yukimura, and even though she has had many, many years of practice, of hiding her true identity, this truly shocked her.

“A what?” Kira asked.

“A Trickster,” Stiles was getting an anxious feeling, a lot like he was about to have another panic attack.  “Oh, oooh, that’s what that is!”

“What?” Scott asked.

“I am not panicking, I am losing control!  The Nogitsune is just trying to take it from me, but it doesn’t have the power.   That is why he is coming for Kira, he brought him here to jump start his power.”

Kira looked at Stiles questioningly.  “Why me?”

“Because of who you are,” Mrs. Yukimura faced her daughter.  “You are a kitsune, as am I.”

“Wait a what?” Scott leaned over and asked his friends in a not so quiet whisper.

“A fox, she’s a fox,” Lydia helped.

Mrs. Yukimura looked at Stiles and his friends, “And how is it you have come to this knowledge?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Why don’t you let us be the judge,” Mr. Yukimura said.  “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”

Stiles looked to Scott for permission to tell his secret.  Scott looked nervous but nodded anyway. “Alright, Beacon Hills, is just that.  It is a Beacon, and for us, it is a Beacon for the supernatural.  Not that long ago a pack of Alphas Werewolves showed up to challenge our Alpha, well Scott’s alpha.  We were not ready for it, and between the Alpha and the Darach, we suffered a lot, a lot of loss.”

Scott, Lydia, and Stiles exchanged looks as they thought about Boyd and Erica. 

“The Darach needed three human sacrifices to restore the Nemeton, and she chose our parents.  Scott, Allison, and I would not let that happen.  We sacrificed ourselves.  We knew that it was going to be with us, that even though we were brought back to life, we knew that that level of darkness was going to stay with us.

“Some time went by and there were no side effects.  We were beginning to think we were really lucky.  Then suddenly, Scott was losing control of his shifts, Allison started hallucinating, and I was sleep walking, at least that is what I thought I was doing.  Turns out, those moments of lapsed time, for the most part, I believe, were the Nogitsune surfacing.”

 

Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura listened intently.  Occasionally Mrs. Yukimura would give Scott a sideways glace, especially anytime it was mentioned that Scott is a werewolf.  “But that doesn’t explain how you know about us.”

Stiles smiled, “Yeah, this is the hard part.”

“Harder than calling my mother a fox or something, and telling us that Scott is a werewolf?”  Kira questioned.

“Yes, see I have lived through all of this already.  I am a Sylph.”

“A what?” Scott and Lydia questioned.

Stiles smiled, “I found out that I actually have the ability to move through time, well actually I have the ability to move across parallel universes.  I have lived through all of this before.  I have seen what happens when Barrow gets ahold of Kira, while she is walking with Scott out to his bike.  I know what happens if the Nogitsune,” Stiles started to feel dizzy, “if the Nogitsune gets out.  I know about you, Mrs. Yukimura and your abilities.  I also know you are the only one who is going to be able to help.”

“I have never heard of a Sylph who could move between worlds.  Just how many worlds have you seen?” Mrs. Yukimura asked.

“This is my fourth.  My world, which is in chaos; a world where my mother lived, but my father had died; and a world where Scott did not get the bite, but my dad did.”  Stiles was breathing heavy.  “Each of those worlds have their own problems, but this, I’ve seen all of this before.  I am hoping that this is my chance to change things.”  Stiles was not looking good.  Very suddenly his face got pale and he looked like he was going to faint.

“Stiles?”  Scott started to question.

Stiles sat down hard in the chair.

The others in the room watched him closely.

“So he’s figured it out,” the voice was coming from Stiles, but it was different, it wasn’t Stiles’.

“Stiles?” Scott questioned again.

“Oh I am sorry Scott, but Stiles isn’t home right now.” Stiles replied.


	20. Chapter 20

Mrs. Yukimura stood up, “You think being in a teenage boy will save you?  You don’t have the strength to hold on very long.”

The Nogitsune smiled, “That might be true, but let’s see how much destruction I can cause until then.” 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura stood up. “Get back!”  Mr. Yukimura called to the kids.

The Nogitsune reached out and grabbed a hold of Lydia, “A Banshee?”  He held her across the chest with one hand holding her throat, “Can you hear it?  Can you hear all be pain I am going to cause?”

Lydia was scared.  She could hear what was coming.  If the Nogitsune was able to leave the house, Beacon Hills would never be the same again.

“Let go of her!”  Scott growled.  He had transformed, preparing for a fight.

“Scotty, Scotty, Scotty, you don’t think your red eyes and claws scare me do you?!  I know you, and you aren’t going to hurt me.  Not so long as I am inside your best friend.”

Scott growled.

Stiles’ hand loosened on Lydia’s neck, “Run!” he said, it was clear to everyone else in the room, this was Stiles.  He was fighting for control.  “Run, now!”

Lydia, Scott, and the Yukimuras ran.

Outside there were cop cars coming in every direction.  The Sheriff was the first one on the scene.  “Where’s Barrow?” He asked Scott as he approached.

“That’s not the problem right now.”  Lydia told the Sheriff.  “Stiles…”

“What happened to Stiles?” The Sheriff was panicking.

“The Nogitsune has him.”  Scott answered.

The Sheriff went white, “The Nogitsune?  What is a Nogitsune?”

“He’s basically a demon spirit who was trapped in the Nemeton, but was released when…” Lydia stopped.

“A demon spirit?  How do we fight a demon spirit?  Is it like a ghost or something?”  The Sheriff was really trying to understand this world that he only recently became aware of.

“No, the Nogitsune is Stiles.  He has control of Stiles, and if he is not stopped…”  Tears were coming to Lydia’s eyes, “I have heard the screams.  Beacon Hills will be destroyed.”

Scott hugged Lydia comfortingly.  “I think the Yukimuras may be able to help us.”

“Help us stop a demon spirit that is inside my son before he destroys the whole town?”  The Sheriff questioned.  “I hope someone can, because I am at a complete loss.”

“Maybe we should get the others here.”  Lydia said to Scott, “Allison, Isaac, Derek, the twins, and even Peter.  I think we are going to need all the help we can get.”

“Do you think that is a good idea which all the cops around?”  Scott questioned.

“Trust me, I’ve heard the pain he is about to cause.  We need all the backup we can get.”

Soon the house was surrounded by cops, feds, and supernatural beings.  The Sheriff was taking lead getting everyone into their places.  “We have a situation; inside this home is my son.  He is unarmed, but experiencing a mental break down.  Proceed with caution.  He is very dangerous!  Also there have been reports of Barrow being in the area, please keep an eye out!”  He had told the officers.

“Stilinski, what aren’t you telling us?”  Rafael McCall asked the Sheriff away from the others.

“You need to go talk with your son.  He will fill you in, but right now I have to worry about getting my son out and to safety without hurting him or getting anyone else hurt.”  The Sheriff walked away.

Agent McCall walked over to where his son was standing with a group made up of mostly teenagers and some parents.  “Scott, we need to talk.”

“Look, Dad, this is not the time.”  Scott was irritated.

“I want to be able to help, but I have to know what is going on.”

“You want to know what is going on?  Really?  Well, right now we are about to have a supernatural battle between Werewolves, and a Nogitsune, some kind of trickster spirit, and we don’t know anything about Nogitsunes. Right now we have to keep about twenty police officers safe, all of which have no idea what they are up against.  Oh and the Nogitsune has somehow possessed my best friend.  So I am sorry that I don’t have time to have this father son bonding moment, but as the Alpha, I have a pack to get ready!”  Scott yelled at his dad.  There was a lot of tension between Scott and his Dad, but Scott still felt bad when he yelled at him.  “I’m sorry, it’s just…”  He gestured towards the group.

“Werewolves?  Nogitsunes?  Scott?”  McCall was stunned.

“I’m sorry dad, but I can’t. Not right now.”  Scott turned back to his pack.

“Scott,” McCall took a breath to calm himself.  “What can I do to help?”

Scott smiled at his father, “Keep an eye out for Barrow, he’s here somewhere and we think the Nogitsune maybe controlling him also!”  Scott turned away from his Dad and returned to the others.  “Is there anything you can tell us about the Nogitsune?”  Scott questioned Mrs. Yukimura.  “Is there a way to stop it?”

“The Nogitsune has not yet come to full power, your friend Stiles was still able to come to the front and warn us.  There is no way to defeat a Nogitsune, but we may be able to suppress it still.”  There was very little hope in her words.  “I don’t know how much time we have.”

~

Inside the house, Stiles fought hard, with everything he had to keep control.  He did not want the Nogitsune getting out again.  He wanted to give them time to come up with a plan.

“Stiles, you cannot hold on forever,” The voice inside his head declared.  “Sooner or later I will get out, and the longer I stay in here, the weaker you get.  I will get out again, and when I do, I am going to kill everyone you love.”

“I won’t let you.”  Stiles was pacing. 

“Stiles, you can stop right now. You cannot fight me.  I know everything that is going on in your head.  I will know everything you are planning.  You are no help to your friends now.”

Stiles had a plan though he just had to get ahold of Deaton.

“A tranquilizer?  You think putting yourself to sleep is going to save your friends?” The Nogitsune laughed.

~

Outside Scott’s phone buzzed, **From Stiles: “Tranq me!  Put me to sleep!”**.

Scott ran to the Sheriff, “I just got a text from Stiles.  He’s still holding on for now.  He told me to tranquilize him.  He wants us to knock him out.”

“Do we know for sure this is from Stiles and not that other thing?”

“No, but it makes sense.  If Stiles is unconscious then it can’t take over, right?”

The Sheriff didn’t know if it made sense or not.  This was his first experience with demon spirits.  “Get Deaton here!  I want to talk to him when he arrives.”  The Sheriff walked over to talk with his officers.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is soon coming to an end! Just a few more chapters... It is getting exciting!!! :)

Stiles couldn’t hold still.  He felt that if he stopped pacing the floor the Nogitsune would regain the power to take over.  Stiles had to keep control, just a bit longer.  He was not letting go, not this time.

“You cannot hold on forever.  The pain is getting too much for you Stiles.  So you are going to have to let go.” The Nogitsune growled.

“I can’t, I won’t let you.  Not this time.”

The pain was getting to Stiles.  He just wanted this all to be over, he wanted to scream.  He wanted to cry, to let go, but he knew what would happen if he did.

He just had to hold on until Deaton got there, then everything would be alright.  Just a little bit longer, just a bit…

~

Scott did as he was told; as soon as Deaton got there Scott took him to the Sheriff.

“Can you do this, without hurting Stiles? Without hurting my son?”  The Sheriff questioned the veterinarian.

“This will not hurt Stiles, just make him sleep.  It will give us enough time to restrain him.  If the Nogitsune is still trying to gain it’s strength, more than anything we have to remember to stay calm.  The Nogitsune will feed off of fear, panic, and chaos.  This isn’t going to be as easy as we think it will.  Everyone needs to be alert for whatever trick the Nogitsune has in store.  It will not go without a fight.”  Deaton informed both the Sheriff and the pack.

“What kind of fight?”  The Sheriff asked.

“That I don’t know, but it is a trickster, so there is something coming.”  Deaton readying the tranquilizer, “I am ready when everyone is in place.”

Derek and Isaac flanked the front door, with the twins nearby.  The officers were back behind the cars ready prepared if Barrow showed or Stiles did not come quietly.  Once everyone was set Deaton called out, “Stiles come out when you are ready; come out with your hands up!”

Inside the house Stiles stood at the front door.  His hand was on the door knob, “You didn’t think I was going to go quietly did you?”  The Nogitsune laughed.

Stiles refused to respond and opened the door and raised his hands.

Stiles saw it, but wasn’t able to warn him in time.  Barrow ran up behind the Sheriff’s deputy, Deputy Parish, and hit him with the tire iron, knocking him out.  Barrow knocked out a handful of others before he was shot by Agent McCall.

The Nogitsune laughed inside Stiles, “They’re nervous, Stiles.  Do you think they are going to be able to save you?  Save you when they are so afraid of what is coming next?”

“Do it!” Stiles called to Deaton.  “Do it now before anything else happens.  I can’t hold on much longer.  DO IT!”

Deaton aimed and shot.  The dart hit Stiles in the arm.  Within moments he was feeling sleepy and started to fall.

Derek stepped over from his position and caught the falling Stiles. 

“Derek,” Stiles smiled placing a hand on Derek’s cheek.   Stiles ran his thumb across Derek’s stubble before he fell unconscious.

As Stiles’ body went limp Derek lifted him with ease and carried him to the Sheriff.

~

When Stiles opened his eyes he was sitting at a desk in Coach’s classroom.  No one else was around.  Good, his plan worked.  While his other body was unconscious and in police protection he could wake up in another world and make plans/get answers.

Stiles couldn’t hear anyone else around, and really didn’t know why he would be in Coach’s classroom alone, so he got up and walked out of the classroom.  There was no one in the hallways, it had to be a weekend or something.

If he could just get to Deaton or Derek, he could talk the situation out.  He could make a plan and protect that other world.

“Where do you think you are going Stiles?” The voice came over the speakers.  “You think you are protected because you are unconscious?  You think I cannot take over?”  The Nogitsune voice encompassed the hallway as though it was everywhere around Stiles.

“You can’t be here.” Stiles quickly realized that this was not a new world, but actually he was stuck inside his own head.  There would be no running off to make plans and get answers. 

“Oh Stiles, I am hurt that you are not pleased to see me.”  The Nogitsune’s voice was no longer on the school speakers.  Instead it was stand at the other end of the hallway.

“Why are you doing this?” Stiles questioned.

“Because it is fun,” the bandaged mouth of the Nogitsune turned upward in a smile.

“Why me?”

“Because you are the human.  You are the one everyone will do anything to protect.  Through you I am the most protected and can cause the most damage.”  If it were possible the smile got larger.

‘But I am not a human anymore,’ Stiles though, ‘somehow I have been turned into a Sylph, which means I am an Air Spirit, a supernatural being, and not a human.  The Nogitsune needs to control a human.  Isn’t that how Scott fought it in the first world?  Turned it into a werewolf?”  Stiles just hoped that the Nogitsune could not hear his brain rambling.

“Once you wake up, you are going to wish you hadn’t pulled this stunt.”  The Nogitsune threatened.  “I am gaining power from you, and soon I will over power you.  You should have just given up when you had a chance!”

“I’m not going down without a fight.” Stiles glared back.

~

“Put him here.”  Deaton directed Derek to place stiles on the exam table.  “I don’t know how strong the Nogitsune is…”

“The Nogitsune can be stronger than Stiles?  Even though it is in Stile’s body?”  Scott asked, confused.

“Were you physically stronger when you turned into a werewolf?  The strength comes from the supernatural spirit not the physical body.”  The Doctor went into the back storage and came out with a long chain.  “He should be waking up soon.  This should hold him, hopefully.”

“Don’t sound so confident,” The Sheriff reached out for the chain and helped Deaton chain Stiles to the table.

“And now we wait,” sighed Deaton.

“Scott, can we talk?”  Agent McCall had been handling everything fairly well, but he wanted some answers.

Scott looked at his dad and felt he owed his father at least answers.  The two of them walked to the other room.

“What the hell?”  McCall questioned.

Scott took a breath, “This was not how I wanted to tell you, but I had no other choice.”

“Werewolves?”

“Yes, I am a werewolf, the supernatural world is real, and it is kind of our job to protect this town against it.”

“Werewolves?”

Scott smiled, “Yes.”

Agent McCall sat down in one of the waiting room chairs, “Werewolves.”

“Dad, are you going to be okay?” Scott watched his father.

“Yeah, it’s just going to take me a minute.”  Rafael rubbed his face with his hands, “Does your mother know?”

“Yeah,” Scott smiled.  He was truly lucky to have such a great/understanding mother.

“About all of you?” Agent McCall gestured towards the exam room where five other werewolves, a banshee, and a Nogitsune were.

“Yeah.”

“Werewolves,” Agent McCall was just shaking his head.

Scott knew his dad was going to be alright with this, in his own time.

~

“Do you feel that, Stiles?”

“Feel what?” Stiles looked around the abandoned hallway.

“The tranquilizer is wearing off.  We are beginning to wake up.”  The Nogitsune was almost purring with excitement.

“I’m going to stop you,” Stiles knew what he had to do.


	22. Chapter 22

“Stiles, can you hear me, Stiles.”  Deaton was calling out to Stiles as he began waking up.

Scott and his dad walked back into the exam room and joined the others who filled the room, all keeping their distance from the table.

“Stiles, is that you?” Deaton called out again.

Stiles had control, and even though he could feel the Nogitsune clawing from the inside he had to talk with Deaton before it over took him.  “Is everyone alright?”

Deaton startled.  “Stiles?”

“Just answer me, is everyone alright?”  Stiles begged, he saw Barrow attack officers and wanted to make sure everyone was alright.

“Everyone will be just fine, are you alright?”  The Sheriff asked.

Stiles’ eyes went wide, “I’m a Sylph!”

Deaton moved closer, “Excuse me?”

“In my other world, I was a Sylph.  I hoped that when you knocked me out I could jump worlds and find answers, but I didn’t go anywhere.”

“Do you always jump when you sleep?”  Deaton questioned.

“Yes, but I was losing control so you, other you, found a ritual to tie me to the world.”

“Did I perform the ritual?”  Deaton moved to where he kept his books.

“I don’t know.  I was...I was killed before we got to that.”  Stiles hadn’t really thought about how he ended up in this world until now.  He had died; Kate killed him. 

Deaton read for a moment then said, “I am assuming you were losing control and the vale between time was getting thin.  If you died, the ritual would still need to be performed.  It would tie your spirit so that line to keep time in its place.  The ritual would have been performed after your death.  And if you had jumped here, your spirit would be tied to this world.”

“Is there a way to untie it?  As long as I am human it can take over, but a Nogitsune cannot inhabit a supernatural body.” Stiles was convulsing, the pain was getting unbearable.

“There is a ritual to unbind a Sylph, but it runs the risk of the Sylph falling into the between space.”  Deaton read through his book.

“The what?” The Sheriff questioned.

“The space between this world and another.  Essentially into nonexistence.”  Stiles answered.  “Do it, do whatever it takes!”

“Stiles, no, I won’t risk you.”  The Sheriff moved beside his son.  “I cannot lose you!”

Stiles smiled at his dad, “If I can save others by getting rid of this thing, I have to try!”  It was taking every bit of Stiles’ strength to hold the Nogitsune back.  He could feel the claws tearing at his insides.  “I have to.”  Stiles let out a let out a pained moan.  “He’s getting stronger.  I don’t know how much time I have.”

“I need to get started.”  Deaton and the others began gathering items for the ritual.

“Stiles?”  Derek came up beside the exam table.  “You can’t do this.”

“You haven’t seen what I have lived through.  If the Nogitsune gets out… so many people died in my world, and it was my fault.  If I can just hold him back, maybe that can all change.  And if I have to die…”

“Stiles,” Derek looked like he had something he needed to say, but didn’t know how to say it.  “I… We can’t risk losing you.”  Derek put a hand on Stiles.  The pain inflicted by the Nogitsune rushed out of Stiles’ body and through the contact Derek gave him.  “Stiles?”

“Derek, I…”

“Stiles, you are in a lot of pain.”

“Derek,” Stiles sighed.

Derek reached out and took Stiles’ hand. 

“What are you doing?”  Stiles asked.

Derek squeezed Stiles’ hand, “If I can take some of your pain, you will be able to hold it back a bit longer.”

Stiles smiled slightly.  “Thank you!”

“Stiles, are you in love with the big bad werewolf?” The Nogitsune cooed from inside.  “Does he know about your relationship in that other world?  What if I killed him first?  If you don’t give me control, I will make it painful for him.  I will torture him.  But you give up now, give up this hopeless fight, and I will let him live.”

Stiles pulled himself away from Derek’s touch. 

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked.

“He’s going to hurt you.”  Stiles warned.  “Get away from me!”

“I am going to stay right here and help you.”  Derek reached out again and took as much pain as he could away from Stiles.

“Please, I can’t lose you again.”  Stiles cried.

Derek looked at him shocked.

“I love you.  I know that you are not my Derek, and that you don’t feel the same way, but I cannot watch you get hurt.  Derek, I…”  Stiles was not able to finish his sentence.  Derek, in shock, leaned forward and pressed their lips together.  “I… Derek?”  Stiles questioned.

Derek smiled, “I’m going to stay with your, for as long as it takes!  I can protect myself, and I can protect you!  You just hold on.  I haven’t taken you on a date yet,” Derek’s smile widened.  “You have to hold on for that!”

Stiles could fall in love with that smile (and he already has).

~

Deaton performed the ritual to unbind Stiles right there in the exam room.  If this worked they would know in a matter of minutes.

“I can’t hold him… He’s… he’s,” Stiles’ whole body twisted beneath the chains.  Derek tried to hold onto him, but the pain was too much and he had to let go.

“I told him if he let go easily I would spare you,” The Nogitsune’s words came out of Stiles mouth.  “Too bad he didn’t listen!”

It pulled on the chains and they broke, as though they were made of paper.  He sat up on the table and looked at the pack surrounding him.

“So many of you?!  I guess I chose the right human.  Werewolves, Kitsunes, an Emissary, and humans what try to hold their own.”  The Nogitsune laughed at them.  “All so fierce and yet so fragile.”

They all encircled the table, hoping to be a barrier between the Nogitsune and the outside world.

“I will see this world destroyed, one by one, everyone that Stiles ever loved will be killed and I will feed off the fear and panic.  The chaos I will bring may even satisfy _my_ hunger.”

“It didn’t work,” Scott looked to Deaton.

“It may just need more time,” said Ethan.

They each looked to the others anticipating someone to have a new plan, but each looked as scared as the others.

“Oh Stiles, I hope you are watching this!  Watching your friends panic as they have realized they have lost.  I hope you are ready to see me finish each and every one of them.” 


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last Chapter.... there will be an Epilogue.. but this story is essentially over... I can't believe it!

**Chapter 23**

The Nogitsune stood surrounded on every side by the members of the pack.  He, though in Stiles’ body, look very different from Stiles.  His eyes were dark and his face was pale.  He walked towards Derek, rage and devastation pulsing through every fiber of his existence.  But just as he was within fighting distance of Derek, he collapsed.  He went down to a knee then doubled over onto the ground. 

“Run!  Get out of here!”  It was Stiles, somehow that boy was still fighting.

The clinic was encircled by a ring of Mountain Ash and as soon as everyone was safely on the outside, Deaton closed the gap. 

“Is it trapped in there?”  The Sheriff asked.

“For now, but I do not fool myself into believing that this will hold a Nogitsune very long.  If he manages to get control again… we are going to be in for a bloody battle.”  Deaton was being honest.

“Why didn’t your ritual work?”  Mrs. Yukimura asked.

“It may need to be performed in the world where it originated.  I have never heard of a Sylph who could move between parallel universes.”  Deaton watch the building and they all waited to see what would happen next.

~

“Why won’t you just give up?!”  The Nogitsune yelled.  The battle for control was turning into a painful one.  Stiles wanted to incapacitate the trickster, and if that meant throwing himself into the walls and harming himself, he was going to do it.

“I won’t give up!  As long as I am able to gain the upper hand, I will fight you.”

Soon the pain got excruciating and both Stiles and the Nogitsune called out.  The body dropped on the floor and writhed.  The screams sounded like that of a person being torn in half. 

Outside everyone was on high alert.

And then it stopped.

All was silent.

The pack looked around, no one knew what to do.

“Oh what a night!”  Stiles was standing in the door way of the clinic.  He was clearly in pain, but the others could tell that this was in fact Stiles.  “You missed the party!”  He was smiling.

No one ran to him, all still a bit afraid the Nogitsune would resurface.

“Can a Sylph cross the Mountain Ash?”  Allison asked Deaton in a soft whisper.

“So long as the Nogitsune is not in him any longer.”  Deaton replied.

Everyone watched and waited.  Stiles walk out towards then crossing the border with ease.  All except his hand that is.

They all were suddenly on alert again.

“Well the Mountain Ash works on a Nogitsune!”  Stiles was still smiling.  He opened his hand and revealed a smashed bug.  “This needs to be stored somewhere safe.  Derek any chance you have a box that your mother’s claws were kept in, made from the wood of the Nemeton?  Or is that not this world?”

“We have one, yes.  Peter?”  Peter didn’t have to be asked he was already heading in the direction of Derek’s loft.   Derek watched in amazement at both Peter and Stiles.  Could this truly be over?

“Until he gets back, think we can put this into a jar surrounded by Mountain Ash?”  Stiles asked.

Deaton came forward with Mrs. Yukimura to take the bug and find something inside the clinic to keep it in for now.

Once the Nogitsune was out of Stiles’ hand, he fully crossed the barrier. 

“You did it!”  Derek ran to Stiles.

“It was the unbinding spell, I just had to hold him back until it had time to work.”  Stiles said modestly.

“ _You_ did it!”  Derek said again.  “You held him off, and we couldn’t have… Stiles you saved everyone!”

Stiles smile.

Derek reached out and pulled Stiles into a strong hug.  “You are amazing!”  Derek smiled and kiss Stiles.  Derek kissed him passionately, holding the younger boys face in his hand and forgetting about the others watching.

“Uhhummmm,” A throat was cleared nearby.  Sheriff Stilinski glared at the two from where he was standing nearby.

Stiles smiled, “Um, dad there’s a conversation I was meaning to have with you…”

The Sheriff just rolled his eyes.  Stiles had lightened the mood enough that the others smiled also.

The Sheriff hugged his son, “I am so glad you are okay!”  Stiles hugged him back.  The Sheriff then turned to Derek, “Just remember, I am the Sheriff, and I own a gun!  I know these bullets won’t kill you, werewolf and all, but they will probably hurt pretty bad!”

Derek swallowed hard.  He really hadn’t thought about it.

The Sheriff smiled and clapped Derek on the shoulder.  “Just don’t hurt him!”

Derek nodded sheepishly.

Stiles smiled at his dad, and moved once again into Derek’s arms.

Everything was going to be alright!

THE END


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The school gymnasium was packed.  Stiles may have been unpopular, but he touched so many people lives.

“This was supposed to be the year my son tried out to play on the Lacrosse team’s first line.  He was truly terrible, but it was something that he loved.  This was going to be the year he hung out with friends and took honors classes and made bad teenage hormone driven decisions.  This was the year he and his best friend Scott would have played video games all night and into the morning, and possibly he would have got a summer job.  This was going to be a good year for my son; he was going to make it great.  That’s what he did, Stiles made everything great.  He looked out for others.  He helped people and always tried to do what he thought was best (even if those decisions terrible decisions).  Stiles wanted to be a good student, a good team mate, a good friend, a good son.  And he was!  My son, he was great, in every way.

“We are here today to talk about Stiles, to celebrate his life and mourn our loss.  We are here to laugh, and cry, but mostly laugh.  Stiles was a funny kid, and he wouldn’t want us to hurt.” The Sheriff had to stop his speech and regain composure.  “If here were here, he’d make a joke.  He would probably trip over the microphone cord and knock this podium over first,” everyone in the gym laughed.  “But that was Stiles.  He had a good heart and a great laugh, and that is what I am going to miss the most.”

The funeral was painful.  People told stories and memories about Stiles, from school and lacrosse. 

It was hard for the Sheriff to see everyone hurting.  He knew his son was loved by many, but to see it touched his heart. 

After the funeral, Derek walked up to the Sheriff.  “If you need ever need anything, I am here.”

The Sheriff appreciated Derek’s gesture.

Derek stood beside the Sheriff.  There was a beat of awkward silence until, “Did you reveal yourself to Kate?”  Derek finally asked.

“Yeah,” The Sheriff smiled a bitter sweet smile.

“Is she fearing for her life?”

“Oh yeah.”

Derek smiled.

“He loved you, you know.”  The Sheriff put a comforting hand on Derek’s arm.

“It wasn’t me he loved.  He loved the other one.”  Derek wouldn’t make eye contact with the Sheriff, “But I loved him.” He admitted.

The Sheriff smiled again and hugged Derek tightly.

~*~

When Derek returned late that night, he found the Sheriff sitting on Stiles’ bed.  He held Stiles close to him.  His face was streaked with tears.

“No,” Derek’s heart stopped.

“He’s gone.”  The Sheriff said.

“But… He’s… He’s just… He’ll be back.  He always comes back.” Even as the words came out of Derek’s mouth he knew they weren’t true.  Stiles was gone.  He had sent Derek away so that he could say good bye to his dad and wouldn’t get talked into staying.  Stiles was gone, for good this time.

“He’s not coming back.  He’s never coming back.”  The Sheriff cried silently again as Derek collapsed onto the floor near the bed.  How were they going to make it?  So many were gone, so many had died, and now Stiles’ name would be added to that list.

~\\*/~

“Stiles?”  Claudia turned in the crowd to find her son.  She had heard him just moments before.  “Stiles?!” She called out to him.

Others began moving out of the way.  Claudia ran when she saw her son laying on the ground.  “Stiles, no you come back here!  You’ve saved us.  We need you here with us.  Stiles?!”

There was no pulse.  Stiles was gone.

The celebration turned to mourning as the neighbors realized their hero had given his own life that day.  And though they would now be able to defend themselves against any Rougarous who stuck around, who knew what other dangers awaited them.  They wanted just once to have a moment worth celebrating.

***

“How’s this for a first date?”  Derek walked Stiles through the preserve to a clearing.  Derek had set up a blanket picnic where they could look at the stars.

“Who knew you were such a romantic.”  Stiles winked at Derek.

“You like it then?”

“Yeah, I love it!”

Derek kissed Stiles, “And do you like that?”

“Yeah, but it is kind of like kissing my cousin.” Stiles joked.

Derek gave him a weird look, “Excuse me?”

“My cousin, Miguel,” Stiles grinned.

“Who?”

“When I told Danny you were my cousin Miguel.”

“You’ve never told Danny… what?” Derek laughed.

Stiles sat down on the blanket and was silent for a long time.

“What’s wrong?”  Derek leaned down and kissed Stiles on the head.

Stiles looked up at the sky, the stars out and it was so clear tonight.  It really was a beautiful and romantic night.

“I was just thinking about those other worlds.  I wonder how everyone is,” Stiles looked at Derek.

“Those other worlds aren’t real anymore.  You are here now, bound here, just forget about them.”  Derek was trying to be helpful, but he just didn’t understand it the way Stiles did.

“Yeah, but…” Stiles thought for a moment.  “This isn’t my world. I am not the Stiles you knew.  I know it sounds crazy, but even though we know each other, have known each other.  We haven’t.  Not you and me.  You knew the other Stiles, and I knew the other Derek.  And though our histories are very similar, there are some very different points.”

“Like what?”                                                                            

“Well for one, cousin Miguel jokes are lost on you.” Stiles smiled.

“Then you are going to have to tell me the stories,” Derek kissed Stiles again and laid back in the grass.

“Okay, so you were on the run from the police, and you were hiding in my room.  Not the smartest move by the way, since my Dad is the Sheriff and all,” Stiles was smiling.  “Danny was there and I told him you were my cousin Miguel…”

Derek laughed and listened to Stiles’ story.  Yep, Everything would be alright!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that is it... I hope you liked it :) Leave a comment and let me know what you though... and stop by my tumblr helooksbritish.tumblr.com


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